


Webs and Writings

by ImyourCardiganAngel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, Spiderman AU, a mix of all i guess and then some, follows no specific spiderman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-03-05 19:24:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13394580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImyourCardiganAngel/pseuds/ImyourCardiganAngel
Summary: Keith leads a double life. During the day, he's a high school student juggling his homework and relationships. At night, he dawns a mask and spandex becoming New York's Amazing Spiderman. But as more powerful threats pop up, it becomes harder and harder for Keith to keep his secret and stay alive, while also protecting those he loves.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I was reading a bunch of these Spiderman aus (bc Spidey is my fave) and decided I should try my hand at it! I love writing this au, and i've got a general outline about for this story! But like my other fics, i'll be writing as I go. Hope you enjoy!  
> I do not own these characters!

The ringing of an alarm was what first drew his attention to the small bank placed on the corner of an intersection in Queens. The next were the lurking figures inside when the bank was supposed to be closed- given it was one o’clock in the morning. It wasn’t hard to get inside unnoticed even though two guards were posted at the front door, each holding a gun. You might be asking why even attempt to interfere when the logical thing to do was turn and run the other way. Well, it was his duty to stop crime, why else was he called-

“Spiderman?!” One of the robbers yelled out upon seeing the hero jump from a vent to the ground just behind the gang. “How’d you get in here?”

“No, no, no,” Spiderman held up a finger, head shaking in disappointment. “I’m The Amazing Spiderman, can’t forget the adjective, it makes the name! And might I ask you the same thing? Bank’s closed, all transactions will have to wait until morning.”

The other robbers ignored him and continued stuffing money into the sacks they were all clutching, but their leader was grinning dangerously. The hairs on the back of Spiderman’s neck rose and a biting warning coalesced at the back of his mind. He quickly back-flipped over the two guards who were sneaking up behind him, simultaneously shooting his webs to clog their guns. They growled and tossed the useless weapons aside, pulling out knives instead and lunging at the crouching hero. Spiderman dodged the swipe of the first robber, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, forcing him to drop his knife, then webbed his arm to his back, ducking just as the second robber attacked. He swiped out a leg, the robber falling to the floor and immediately swaddled in webs, securing his limbs and body to the floor. He returned his attention to the previous robber, who was rushing for the door, hand still stuck to his back, and slung a web around his legs, binding them and cutting his escape short.

A loud battle cry alerted him to his next attacker, and turned to see the man who he assumed was the leader rushing at him with a lead pipe raised over his head- going old school, huh, Spiderman mused. He waited until the last moment to sidestep him, watching as he stumbled past, face twisting from rage to surprise as he tried to right himself. Spiderman’s webs attached to his back and with a jerk the robber was heading back towards the hero…and his fist. A hard uppercut sent him sprawling on the ground, where he remained unmoving, but not dead- though one punch with Spiderman’s full strength could easily kill grown man. 

“Alright, who’s next?” Spiderman drawled, addressing the remaining three robbers who were looking sheepishly at their unconscious leader. 

They all glanced at each other and made a dash for the door, their sacks filled with money slung over their shoulders. Spiderman sighed and, with a flick of his wrist, blocked the doorway with a web, stopping the robbers in their tracks.

“Would you like to make a deposit?” Spiderman asked them, arms crossed sternly across his chest.

One of the robbers, a girl, threw her money bag on the ground, an angry snarl on her lips. She withdrew a pistol and aimed it at the masked hero, but didn’t get very far. One moment her finger was on the trigger, the next she was stuck to the wall behind her, the force knocking the gun free from her grip, but not before she got a shot off. The bullet grazed Spiderman’s arm, who had barely been able to duck out of the way in time to prevent it from imbedding into his ribs.

“Are you done yet? I’ve got a really big calc test tomorrow and you’re cutting into my studying time! Calc is not easy, have you ever taken it?” Spiderman spoke casually, but his voice was gruff, a warning present in its undertones.

Both of the remaining robbers quickly shook their heads, raising their hands in surrender, dropping their bags in the process. Spiderman smirked, and webbed them together, giving them a salute before disappearing back into the vent just as sirens were heard. The police cars were pulling up outside, their red and blue lights sending splashes onto the surrounding buildings. Spiderman ducked down on the roof, watching as the officers exited their cars and took in the scene before them. He didn’t care about the way the police chief was complaining about the clean up job to come, or the newbies who doted on his every word. His eyes locked onto a poof of white hair, and he immediately smiled under the mask. He watched the only officer he cared about assess the situation with his hand on his hips, face passive, and how he gave orders to members of his team in a gentle but strong voice, unlike the harsh barking the chief used to command authority. Spiderman turned away, retrieving his backpack of snacks and other necessities, as Hunk had insisted, that he had hidden in the shadows, and dug out his phone- damn, it was almost two in the morning! Seeing as he really did have a calculus test he had to study for, he leapt into the night, letting his webs propel him through the air, from building to building, until he reached his humble apartment building. He scaled the wall after double-checking that no one was around as a witness- which did happen one time, but the guy was a known drunk and quickly dismissed. 

Finally in the confines of his bedroom, he pulled off his mask with a sigh of relief, not that it was uncomfortable to wear- Pidge had tested various fabrics and ultimately created her own to fulfill its purpose. He ran a hand through his thick black hair, which was starting to curl at his neck, and rubbed both of his eyes with a groan. Keith was dead tired, and he managed to pull himself out of the spandex suit before collapsing onto the bed, letting his exhaustion overtake him.

 

The click of a door, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps on wood flooring, awoke Keith. He grumbled, pulling the blankets around him more tightly and allowing his eyes to flutter closed once more. A sharp bang reverberated through the room, followed by a “Keith? Are you up? I’m coming in,” that sent a stroke of panic through him. He threw off his covers, grabbing his suit that was still laying plainly on the floor where he had carelessly discarded it last night and shoved it under his blankets. The door opened and Shiro’s head peeked inside. 

“Shiro! I’m getting dressed, you can’t just barge in here like that!” Keith almost screeched, his nerves fluttering and making him dizzy. That has been close, too close.

“I knocked, and you didn’t answer me,” Shiro retorted, unamused. “I thought you were still sleeping. Your bus leaves in 10 minutes, you know that right?”

Keith felt his body go cold and he braved a glance at the clock- 7:22. Make that T-minus 8 minutes until his bus leaves. Keith lunged at his closet, throwing it open and pulling on the first items he stumbled across, which was a pair of dark-wash jeans and a maroon sweater. He moved his suit into a more secure hiding place since Shiro had left him to panic in peace, and grabbed his bag off of his desk, knocking over a cup of pens and pencils in the process. He ignored that, his room was a mess and he had accepted that long ago. He ran into the kitchen, making a beeline for the door, when a hand caught the back of his collar.

“Shoes?” Shiro chuckled, and Keith glanced at his bare feet.

Keith took a bite of the toast and relished the way it crunched and how the warm peanut butter oozed in his mouth. He lived for the simple things in life.

“Thanks, Shiro!” He called over his shoulder as he ran out the door.

“Have a good day! Stay safe!” He heard Shiro call after him, chuckling a bit.

Keith raced down the stairs two at a time, bursting outside in time to see his bus pulling away a couple blocks down the street. He groaned, popped the rest of his toast in his mouth, followed by a squirt of water as he looked around for a way to catch up. An unattended skateboard sat against the brick of his building, and without hesitation he grabbed it- he’d have Spiderman return it later- racing after the bus. He threw the board down in front of him and hopped on, wobbling a bit until his body’s muscle memory kicked in. He gained on the bus, and hopped off the sidewalk and into the street, dodging a car that honked at him, which he ignored despite his inner monologue urging him to flip them off, and managed to latch onto the bus with a hand. He breathed in relief and sat back for the ride, trying to ignore the gawking faces of the kids in the back seat. He separated from the bus as it pulled up to school, and hopped off the board as he rolled into the courtyard. He glanced at his phone- 7:54- enough time to stop at his locker before class.

He started climbing the steps when he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the smiling face of Hunk. He wore his signature orange headband and a mustard yellow sweater, a gray flannel peaking out underneath, and nice jeans. Here was a boy who had his life together. Keith had first met Hunk during freshman year, when he was the new kid at school having moved from Texas when Shiro adopted him. Hunk had been the first person to talk to him, which Keith had found incredible and proceeded to worship Hunk for the next year. Keith looked around, because wherever Hunk was, Pidge was. The two were stuck like glue.

“Late night? You look awful!” Ah, there she was.

“Good to see you too, Pidge.” Keith grumbled, continuing to walk up the stairs. He managed to make it to his locker without any more remarks or questions of any kind.

“Late night last night?” Pidge leaned against the locker with a knowing grin.

“Bank robbery,” Keith whispered, and Pidge’s smile widened.

“Did they have guns? Were you hurt? Did you remember to take those snacks I bought you?” Hunk butted in, fingers tapping together nervously.

“Yes, no, I’m standing right in front of you, Hunk, and yes, thank you.” Keith answered patiently. Hunk relaxed.

“How’d our gadgets work?” Pidge questioned eagerly. “Don’t answer that! I already know- perfectly.”

Keith closed his locker, groaning loudly and letting his head fall onto the cool metal.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Hunk asked as Pidge and him stared curiously at their friend.

“Calculus.”

“Oh, let me guess. You didn’t study.” Pidge smirked, and Keith nodded.

“Well, that’s not until fifth period, so you still have plenty of time to study!” Hunk offered encouragingly.

The harsh ring of the bell signaling class was in session cut their conversation short, and Keith reluctantly waved goodbye to his friends before trudging into his first class of the day, English. He plopped his books onto his desk, startling his desk partner, who looked as if they had been asleep, and he gave them a sheepish smile as he slid into his seat.

“Ever heard of a brush?” They growled.

“What?” Keith ground out as well, not in the mood for conversation.

“Your hair is a mess, dude.” They replied before laying their head back down on their arms.

Keith paled as he remembered he hadn’t brushed his hair this morning, and frantically ran a hand through his hair, hoping to tame his fly-aways and awful bedhead. He glanced across the room to where Lance sat, and saw him talking animatedly to the people who sat around him. He looked perfect, hair neat, skin smooth, and teeth so white they glowed. Keith sighed and let his hands drop. His desk partner snorted.

“You don’t have a chance.”

Keith’s mood soured. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, thank you! Now go back to sleep!” He growled. His desk partner shrugged and did just that.

Then the teacher pulled everyone’s attention to the front of the class with the clearing of her throat. She was holding papers, and explained the class’ next project, handing out the rubric as she talked. Keith zoned out, staring at Lance again as the early morning light seemed to cast a halo around him. He jerked back to attention when he found blue eyes on him, and quickly looked away, forcing himself to at least try and pay attention in his least favorite class. What teacher took off points for using ‘y’all’ in an essay? It was a legitimate word! Keith shook his head as he found himself drifting off topic again. Suddenly, everyone was moving around, and Keith paled as he rewound the teacher’s words in his head. Find a partner. Those dreaded words Keith hoped to never hear in a class, especially this class where neither Hunk nor Pidge were present to save him. He was starting to panic a little when a tan hand fell onto the table beside him.

His eyes followed a long arm up to a shoulder, then a neck, and finally a face. Keith’s breath hitched as he registered Lance, Lance McClain, standing right in front of him, smiling as he would anyone else.

“Wanna be my partner?” Lance asked almost shyly, and Keith was sure his eyes were bugging out of his head. His desk partner snorted, and Keith glared at him.

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, sure!” He stuttered, looking around for a place where they could sit together, but seeing none, so he settled his gaze to the hunched form next to him.

His desk partner returned his gaze evenly, then shrugged and pulled up his hood, standing and exiting the classroom without another word. Lance’s smile widened, and he sat in the now empty spot beside Keith, dropping his backpack- which was a floral pattern because he was just that cool and simply did not care- on the floor.

“So, what should we do our project on?” Lance asked.

Keith blinked, unable to recall anything about the project they were just assigned, and Lance laughed.

“Zoned out, did we?” No, I was just staring at you. Keith didn’t say that, instead he rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Uh, maybe just a little bit.”

Lance laughed again, but didn’t leave as Keith thought he would, instead proceeding to give Keith the sparknotes of what they’re teacher had just said. Apparently, they had to write an argumentative paper and create a presentation to go with it. Keith nodded in understanding, currently grateful to the universe for giving him a break.

“I was hoping to write about Spiderman! What do you think?”

Keith did a double take. Was this Lance’s way of hinting that he knew Keith’s alter ego? No, it wasn’t even remotely possible. Keith had never held a full-blown conversation with the guy until now, sure they had exchanged a wave in the hallways every now and then, and yeah maybe they got drunk that one time during sophomore year at a party- Keith would never drink again, he shivered at the memory- but nothing to reveal his night life to Lance.

“Sure, sounds great,” Keith nodded, and Lance cheered in response.

They planned out the project for the rest of class, deciding to argue as to why Spiderman was a hero and a “blessing to this city,” to quote Lance. Thank god! It would have been real awkward to argue as to why he was a menace to the city. The bell rang and Lance clapped a hand on his shoulder, they exchanged goodbyes and moved onto their next class. Keith smiled, even though this day hadn't started out on the right foot, it was starting to look up.


	2. Chapter Two

He was wrong. He was so so wrong. Keith cursed inwardly as he stared at the questions on the first page of his calculus test. He was screwed. Pidge and Hunk had even taken time out of their lunch to help him study, and now he was just going to throw that away. He inwardly groaned, but attempted the questions anyway, hoping that maybe it would all come back once he started working them out. He managed to struggle through the test, some of it coming back to him in doing so, but he still felt lousy when he handed it in. Wasn’t looking forward to that grade. As he trudged down the hallway to his locker, throwing his books inside and then heading to his next class, the last class, which was gym. Keith normally hated gym, but this year was going to be okay since Hunk an Pidge were in his class, as was Lance. He spotted Pidge and Hunk across the room when he entered. They had already changed into their uniform- a pair of baggy shorts and a white t-shirt with the face of a lion depicted on it. Pidge seemed to swim in the uniform, and Keith struggled to suppress a smirk.

“How was the test?” Hunk asked as Keith plopped on the stands beside them.

Keith groaned loudly, tugging his t-shirt over his head to change, having changed into his shorts before entering the gym.

“That bad, huh?” Pidge snickered.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Keith’s shoulders sagged, but he unconsciously perked up again when his eyes found Lance.

His smile seemed to light up the room, his shorts hugged him in all the right places, and Keith got lost in the way his shirt was riding up, revealing the tanned skin of his lower back. Then his view was blocked by the smirking face of Pidge.

“What do you want to talk about?” She wiggled her eyebrows, cackling. Even Hunk was smirking, and gave Keith an apologetic shrug.

A sharp whistle filled the room, saving Keith, and the students began collecting around the teacher, who was also sporting a pair of shorts of his own which Keith was sure was not appropriate for school judging by how tight they were. He announced the days activities, and ended the conversation with ‘find a partner,’ the second time that day Keith heard that spoken. He looked over at Pidge and Hunk, who had already claimed each other, and received equally smug grins. Pidge mouthed ‘it’s for you own good’ at Keith, who gave her a confused look, which fell away with a tap at his shoulder. He turned and got an eyeful of Lance.

“Want to be partners for the second time today? Or have I scared you away yet?” 

Keith turned his confused look on Lance. “What do you mean ‘scare me away’?” 

“Well, sometimes I scare people away because I talk too much,” Lance rubbed the back if his neck.

Keith chuckled. “Well, I scare people away because I don’t talk enough. So, I think we’re a perfect match!”

Lance chuckled as well, and then Keith realized what he had said, and his face began to heat up. “I mean that as in we’re great partners, for the English project, or for gym in this case!” Keith tried to correct himself, making Lance laugh harder.

“Well, we better start doing our push-ups if we don’t want to get left behind, partner.” Lance jerked a thumb at the other partners who were already getting started.

“Yeah, good idea,” Keith said, getting down on his hands and knees.

After that drill was over, they moved on to sit-ups, the partners switching out to hold each other’s feet. Keith especially liked this drill because Lance’s shirt rode up so Keith could see his soft stomach, but it was a challenge to hide his blush. Luckily, he blamed it on the rigorous workout, though realistically Keith wasn’t even breaking a sweat. They moved on to pull ups next. Keith got lost in his thoughts, listening with a soft smile as Lance told another story about his family, which led him to fall deep into his mind thinking about his own family. His parents had died, leaving him to hop from orphanage to orphanage and home to home until Shiro was finally able to adopt him. Life hasn’t been easy, it gave him no favors, cut him no breaks, and yeah, he was a little bitter. He bared his teeth and pumped his arms harder.

“Woah, dude!” Lance’s voice broke his thoughts, and he let go of the bar out of surprise, dropping to the ground. “Do you do this often? You were really going at it there for a while! Longer than me at least!”

Keith’s gaze was locked on his feet, embarrassed. “Uh, yeah. My brother is a cop, so sometimes he forces me to workout with him.” Which wasn’t a total lie, but not the truth either.

“Sounds nice!” Lance smiled, and Keith relaxed.

“Sure, but while you’re doing it all you want to do is die.” Keith shrugged, and Lance chuckled, slapping a hand on his back.

“I like talking to you. You’re actually really funny once you get passed the brooding exterior!”

“See? We're not the only ones who think you're brooding, Keith.”

They turned to find Pidge and Hunk coming up behind them. Lance greeted them with his signature smile, and Keith his signature glare. The teacher blew the whistle then, signaling the end of class.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow in English, right?” Lance asked Keith, who nodded, and Lance shot him some finger guns before jogging over to his bag.

“What was that about?” Pidge asked immediately.

“We’re partners in English class for the new project we were given.” Keith shrugged like it was no big deal, when reality was, he was screaming on the inside.

Pidge and Hunk only gave him smug grins again, to which he rolled his eyes and went over to retrieve his own bag.

“Are you going out tonight?” Hunk asked him, collecting his bag as well, and Keith hummed a confirmation. “Alright, be careful buddy.”

“Has Shiro found out yet?” Pidge appeared on his other side.

“Nope,” Keith replied. “And I’d like to keep it that way. I lucked out that his shifts keep him out all night, leaving me to my own devices.”

The trio walked out of school together, laughing and talking about that new movie that just came out, or a new tech idea Pidge has, or a new recipe Hunk wants to try out until it was time to part ways. Keith waved goodbye to his friends, hopping onto his skateboard and sticking his headphones in his ears. His mind was soon caught up in his double life that started with a bite from a radioactive spider, at least that was Pidge’s theory seeing as they didn’t have the spider to test. He kind of brought it upon himself though, as he was snooping around Altea Inc. where he interned and discovered a hidden room that was obviously no longer in use. When Allura found out, she felt responsible even though she had nothing to do with it, she didn't even know that room existed, and thus gave Pidge access to numerous materials and technology to create Keith’s equipment. He was grateful for that much needed upgrade, and grateful for Allura’s support. She covered for him when Keith made up excuses to Shiro too. Shiro believed anything she said, and Keith felt like he was cheating a bit. He smiled and skidded to a halt in front of his apartment building, placing the board where he had found it this morning. When he entered the apartment, Shiro was lounging on the couch, stretched out the entire length of it, and watching the news.

“Dude, you practically live the news and here you are watching it!” Keith slapped his feet off the couch so he could sit down too.

“How was school?” Shiro asked as usual.

“Had a calc test today. I think I bombed it. But,” Shiro raised his eyebrows in anticipation. “Lance talked to me today. He actually asked me to be his partner in two classes.”

Shiro smiled and clapped him on the shoulder; Keith felt his face heating up. “That’s great! I hope you actually talked to him! It seems you’ve been staring at him for so long even the universe got tired of waiting for you to make a move!” Shiro chuckled.

Keith glared at Shiro, but dissolved into soft chuckles as well, too happy to contain them. “How was work last night? See Spiderman again?”

“Yeah, bank robbery this time. He made quite a mess inside, but all the money was accounted for, so I can’t complain!”

“Did the chief have a meltdown again?”

“You should have seen him! He was yelling through the megaphone at everyone and stomping around like he was two.” Shiro shook his head, smiling at the memory.

“Wish I was there,” Keith smirked. “What’s for dinner?”

“Always hungry!” Shiro whined, but stood and ruffled Keith’s hair, walking into the kitchen.

“I am a growing boy!” He retaliated, following Shiro with a pout. “And you know school food does not sustain me! If you can call it food,” Keith muttered, wrinkling his nose at the thought of the cafeteria food. 

“Whatever. How does hot dogs sound?” Shiro asked, peering into the fridge.

“Perfect.” Keith smiled, because everything did feel perfect at that moment.

 

Keith ran across the rooftops, reveling as the cool air rushed around him. He watched the cars drive through the streets below him, still crowded despite it being eleven at night. The sounds of the living city reached his ears and Keith smiled at the familiarity. What would New York City be without the people? That’s why Keith crawled out of his apartment every night instead of going to sleep. He sat on the edge of a roof, letting his legs hang over the side. He peered across the way where the Galra Corp skyscraper rose into the sky, it’s purple neon lettering reflecting off its glass. He doesn’t trust that company; call it a sixth sense. 

Suddenly cars screeched and horns sang, drawing his attention away for the moment. He looked down at the street, where a man was standing with electric bolts radiating off him. Keith stood, jumping off and freefalling through the air, basking in the sense of freedom, before snapping out a hand to sling a web to catch him. He landed gracefully in front of the electric man.

“Hey, man,” he called, capturing his attention. “Watts up?” Keith called, emphasizing the ‘watt’ so the man opposite him understood the terrible joke.

“Spiderman,” the man sneered. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Well, I hope you didn’t have to wait long.” Keith started walking towards him, poised in case he attacked. “What’s your name? Sparky? I'm going to call you Sparky, okay?”

The man laughed, starting out a low chuckle and then escalating until it became unnerving. Then his hand shot forward and a bolt of electricity shot towards Keith, who rolled out of the way in time thanks to his Spidey-senses, as Pidge dubbed the strange intuition. The car behind him exploded with the impact and Keith stared at it in horror, realizing there were still people mingling around the area, though most were running away after that explosion. He needed to distract this guy long enough for the last couple of people to scurry away.

Keith leapt forwards, aiming his webs at the man’s eyes and succeeding in blinding him, for a bit at least, and then a surge of electricity melted it off his face. Sparky was pissed, electric arcs coming out of his eyes and between his fingers; Keith took to the high ground, swinging around to form a plan of attack, and also check to make sure the area was clear. Which it was, mostly, wait, who was that? Keith zeroed in on a figure who was crouching behind the destroyed car, a camera raised to their face. What idiot- he didn’t get to finish that thought because he was suddenly falling, a bolt having severed his web. He rolled to lessen the impact and landed in a crouch, hearing a click as he stilled, and glanced over to find the camera on him, and when it lowered he saw brilliant blue eyes alight with excitement. Shit, Lance, Keith cursed. He should not be here, what was he doing?

Keith was forced to move when his spider-senses sounded the alarm, and he dodged another bolt that scorched the pavement where he was just standing. He rushed the electric man, who was staring haughtily at him, arms wide as if mocking Keith to bring it, which he was going to. This guy had put lives in danger, Lance’s life still is, and didn’t even look concerned, not to mention Keith didn’t appreciate the mocking. His fist connected with the man’s jaw, and he stumbled back, only to right himself. Keith stared incredulously, that punch should have knocked him out. Keith hardened his expression and moved in again, landing numerous hits on his abdomen before throwing him to the ground.

“What do you want from me?” Keith growled, getting in the guy’s face.

“Can’t a guy just have some fun?” He smirked, then grabbed Keith’s arms, sending electricity pulsing through him.

Keith screamed, the sensation so sudden and so powerful his instincts took over and he wrenched himself free, his body feeling like it was on fire even though the circuit was broken. He managed to shoot a couple webs to occupy the man while senses were off. His vision seemed to be in slow motion and his limbs felt heavy, not good when you’re fighting. He shook his head, hoping to clear it, but was hit with a bolt to his chest, sending him flying into the destroyed car. He groaned in pain and frustration. He slid off the car and back onto his feet, shaking out his arms and bouncing on his legs to get the blood flowing, while also psyching himself up mentally. He needed a plan of attack, and he needed one now.

Then the police arrived, cars skidding to create a barricade around the man, cutting off his exits. They didn’t get much farther, electric bolts raining down on them and forcing them to stay in their cars, but also momentarily drawing Sparky’s attention from Keith. Keith whirled at the tap on his shoulder, finding Lance standing there, staring at him in unashamed awe. He could not deal with this right now. Why was he even still here?

“La—what are you doing here?” Keith had to stop himself from calling Lance by name; Spiderman didn't know this guy. “Did you miss the guy shooting electric bolts from his hands in the middle of the street?”

Lance smirked. “Course not. I’m a reporter, and I’m going to report this story!” He raised his camera as if that validated him standing where he currently was.

“You’re going the get yourself killed, is what you’re going to do.” Keith scowled, and Lance unknowingly matched it.

“Well, you don’t seem to be doing much better! You got a plan to take this guy out or what?” He retorted, crossing his arms.

Keith couldn’t help but smirk at his attitude, Lance will always be Lance even in the face of death. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Keith admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Suddenly, his senses screamed at him and he didn’t hesitate to grab Lance and dive behind the car just as a lightning bolt passed by.

“Crap.” Keith muttered. “Time’s up.”

He moved to go out and face sparky again, but a hand latched around his arm, pulling him firmly back.

“Hold up,” Lance spoke sternly. “Rushing head first into this hasn’t worked so far, so what makes you think it’s going to work this time?”

“I don’t. But I can’t exactly just sit around and wait for this guy to get bored.”

“No, you can’t. Which is why you need a plan!”

“I don’t have time for this!” Keith sighed in exasperation.

“Look. Your webs alone aren’t doing the job, so you need some help. They’re conductors, right?”

“To a point. They melt when overloaded, which is how this guy is kicking my ass right now!” Keith answered impatiently, hearing the electric man approaching slowly, like a lion stalking its prey.

“Well, that’ll have to be good enough,” Lance said. “Here’s what you’re going to do.”

Lance whispered the plan into Keith’s ear, his eyes widening at Lance’s words. This could work, chances are slim, but better than none, which is good enough for Keith. 

 

Keith stepped out from behind the car, squaring up to the man who was smiling too widely for it to be friendly. Keith’s eyes mapped his next movement, his fingers twitching to get on with it, but he had to make sure he didn’t tip this guy off, meaning he had to wait at the last moment. He watched as the man approached- 20ft, 10ft, now. Keith shot a web and swung over the guy, landing on an electric panel and ripping it open. He turned back to the man, who had turned to follow him, and shot two webs onto his chest, giving him a tug just out of spite, and connected the other ends of the webs to the electrical wires inside. Sparky’s eyes widened, and he froze as the voltage flowed into him, then he started laughing and Keith’s stomach grew cold. 

“You were hoping to give me a taste of my own medicine, huh? Clever,” He laughed. “But that’s not how it works.”

The webs melted off on their own, spent, and Sparky brushed them aside nonchalantly before rushing at Keith. Great, now what? Keith’s mind scrambled to come up with an alternative, but none surfaced. He spun to avoid a bolt, only to run into the path of another, and another, and another. Keith couldn’t escape, he was trapped without protection. (He’d have to talk to Pidge about an insulated suit.) Keith was just shooting webs at this guy in a panic now, with no other plan to fall back on, he was out of ideas. Sparky burned all of the webs away, so they fell pitifully to the ground as he continued advancing until he knocked Keith to the ground, pinning him with a foot.

“Any last words, Spiderman?” The man sneered.

“Uh, yeah I’ve got a few things, actually.”

“Too bad. I will be your downfall, the last face-“ And then he was gone, a spout of water rushing overtop Keith, freeing him.

“You were saying?” Keith smirked despite just being extremely close to having his brains scrambled.

Keith rolled to his feet, seeing that a police car had rammed a fire hydrant, causing the burst of water, and who stepped out from the driver’s seat was none other than Lance, who flashed him a winning smile and a thumb’s up.

“I’ve got your back, Spidey!"

“You think a little water is going to stop me!” The man roared, getting back to his feet. 

Keith stepped in front of Lance, poised for the next attack, but when the man conjured his electricity he only succeeded in attacking himself. He shuddered and roared, eventually falling to his knees with electricity arching from his body to the puddle of water and back again. He dropped unconscious soon after.

“You see, Sparky, water is a great conductor for electricity, and everyone knows that’s why it’s not safe to go swimming in a thunderstorm.” Keith quipped, stepping aside as the police swarmed the scene, surrounding the man and taking care to avoid the water.

Keith was about to swing up and out of sight when his name was called.

“Spiderman!” He turned to see Shiro walking up to him, and momentarily freaked out, thinking he’d been found out. “I just wanted to say thank you for the work you’ve done. It may not be the way we would do it, but you’re still saving lives.”

Keith nodded, not trusting his voice to work, though Shiro wouldn’t recognize it anyway as Pidge added a modifier into the suit. Shiro clapped a hand on his shoulder, as he has done countless times to Keith, then turned away. Keith released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and slowly backed away, turning right into Lance.

“We make a good team!” The boy was practically bouncing he was so excited. “Can I help you more often? It was kinda fun, living-in-the-moment type of fun!”

“No.” Keith said firmly, crossing his arms and hoping it looked authoritative. “It’s too dangerous for you.”

Lance pouted. “And it’s not for you?”

“My job is to protect the people of this city, not drag them into danger.” Keith replied, slowly losing momentum in this argument. 

“Well, you’re just like me when you’re not wearing that suit, so I don’t see why I can’t help!” Lance continued to argue. “I don’t need your permission anyway! I’m still going to do it whether you like it or not.”

And Keith was beat. He couldn’t let Lance wander around looking for trouble on his own. 

“Fine.” Keith hissed, making it clear he wasn’t happy, but Lance brightened anyway.

“Alright!” He did a weird little dance, and Keith just watched him with an eyebrow raised.

“But you listen to what I say. If I say a situation is too dangerous for you to be present, you listen.” Lance nodded innocently, as if he would never think about go against his wishes. “Okay. Now go home and get to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

“How’d you-?”

“I’m Spiderman.” Then Keith shot a web and flew into the air, disappearing into the shadows.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some odd evidence is discovered. Another baddie shows up. A klance moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a couple things:  
> I added some backstory into the last chapter as of 1/19, but nothing major so if you read it before then, please read the below summary just so you're caught up. But I added things into this chapter as well so you won't be lost. Also, my tags used to say Allura was a reporter, but i've changed that. She is now a scientist and company owner of Altea Inc., and helps Keith, or Spiderman, out as a valuable team member.  
> Summary of Keith's backstory: Bitten by a spider while interning at Altea Inc. when he found an abandoned room in a place he wasn't supposed to be. Allura found out and felt guilty, so she has given them her services which was where Keith got many of his upgrades. She also covers for him when he has to make excuses to Shiro, because Shiro believes everything she says! ;) But she has no information on how the spider got there.

School passed by in a blur, the only disappointment of the day was that Lance didn’t bring up his encounter with Spiderman. He had been excited to see what Lance thought about him, and talk about things with him that Spiderman couldn’t. But his day brightened up when he got his calc test back, almost yelling out with joy when he saw the 73% scribbled atop it. Sure, it wasn’t his usual grade, but he had passed, and that’s all he cared about!

After school was out, he walked to Altea Inc. with Pidge and Hunk, where they all interned. Allura greeted them with her usual smile, dressed in a long labcoat and pencil skirt, hair pulled back expertly in a bun. She turned back to her experiment after greeting them, and Hunk went off to the engineering wing- he was eager to get started on his new assignment, he hadn’t stopped talking about the whole walk over- and Pidge headed for the computers across the room. Keith wandered over to Allura’s side.

“What are you doing?” He asked, peering curiously over her shoulder.

“The police asked me to see if I could figure out how the man you fought last night could control electricity.” She responded, scrunching her nose as she focused.

“And? Did you find something?” Keith asked eagerly.

“Yes, actually,” she lifted her gaze from her project, pulling off her gloves and walking over to the computer Pidge was sitting at. “I was hoping you two could help me figure out what it means.”

She quickly pulled up a diagram filled with equations, a picture of DNA, and an x-ray of the man’s nervous system. Keith peered over it, as did Pidge, adjusting her glasses and squinting at the screen.

“It seems his DNA was spliced and combined with some unknown element,” Pidge pointed out where the new element had bonded with his DNA. The computer showed it glowing blue, as the man had last night. Allura nodded, Pidge echoing what she had been thinking.

“So, he’s an experiment?” Keith asked in disbelief.

“That’s my best guess,” Pidge shrugged. “I’ve never seen anything like this, and we should keep an eye for anything else like it.”

“You think there are more people like him?” Allura asked, surprised.

“It’s possible. And since we know basically nothing about this unknown element, things could get dangerous.”

“That’s where I come in,” Keith added. “I’ll keep an eye out while I’m on patrol.”

“Just be careful, Keith! We don’t want you getting hurt!” Allura turned worried eyes on him.

“More people than just me will get hurt if I don’t do something, Allura. But I’m always careful.” Pidge snorted, and Keith shot a glare at the back of her head, but Allura seemed to accept this, her shoulders relaxing.

“I trust you,” she smiled.

“Besides,” Keith added. “I’m not doing this alone! I’ve got you guys!”

 

Keith took a deep breath of the cool night air, gazing up at the black skies and wishing for the stars he used to be able to see in Texas. He was currently sitting atop an apartment building, well, not just an apartment building, Lance’s apartment building. He had asked Pidge to look it up on Spiderman’s behalf for purely professional reasons of course. Lance had said he wanted to work together, but Keith was curious as to what this would entail, so he decided to swing by and see if he could find Lance to talk about it. His spider sense pulled him from his thoughts and he whirled, hands raised to shoot his webs, but instead of an attacker, he came face to face with Lance, who was smiling widely at him, a notebook tucked under his arm and pencil behind his ear.

“Dang, I was trying so hard to sneak up on you!” 

“Yeah, well you can’t. It’s impossible thanks to this sixth sense I’ve got.”

“Wait, really?” Lance exclaimed, pulling the pencil from behind his ears and scribbling in his notebook.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked warily.

“I’m taking notes! Gotta know these things about my partner!” Lance finished scribbling, dramatically dotting the end of the sentence before raising his eyes back to Keith. “What can I help you with?”

“Right,” Keith said, letting the matter go. “You never said why you wanted to work with me.”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because your devastatingly handsome!” Lance smirked, and Keith swallowed, not in a million years did he think he’d ever hear Lance say those words to him, even though they were directed at Spiderman, and indirectly to Keith. 

“Sure. What’s the real reason?” Keith managed to say.

“I’m an intern at the Coran Chronicles newspaper company, and I was assigned you for my next story. If I nail this, they’ll offer me a full-time job for after I graduate!”

“So, you’re using me.” Keith said flatly.

“What? No! I’m just playing the system. And for the record, I wasn’t planning on teaming up until I actually helped you fight that electric man! We really do make a good team!”

“So, you’re doing all this for some paper you have to write?”

“Yeah, but also for the adventure!” Lance laughed. “I like to live a little.”

Keith looked at him in confusion, not understanding why Lance would put himself if this kind of danger for the fun of it. But, he could prove useful in giving Keith more information that he wouldn’t be able to find out on his own.

“So tell me about yourself,” Lance interrupted his thoughts, sitting down with his notebook in his lap.

Keith could see ‘Spiderman’ written in looping handwriting with a heart after it at the top of the page. He was glad he was wearing a mask to hide his blush.

“Are you interviewing me?!”

“I’m a reporter, it’s what I do!” Lance rolled his eyes. “So, how long have you been at this gig?”

“For about a couple months now.” Keith shrugged, deeming the question harmless. He obviously wasn’t going to tell Lance everything.

“Woah, really?” Lance exclaimed, jotting his answer down. “Where’d you get the suit and web slingers?”

“I made them,” Keith said. “With some help.” He added.

“And who helped you?” Lance asked, face hopeful.

But Keith shook his head. “Sorry, can’t say. It would compromise my identity and their safety.”

Lance shrugged his shoulder, pouting a bit despite knowing that that was going to be the answer anyways.

“How’d you know where to find me?” Lance shot at Spiderman, seeing him freeze slightly. 

“Well, I, uh, had a friend look up your address for me.” Keith rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. 

Lance smirked. “Oh yeah? I like a man who makes the first move!”

“What! No! I just needed to get in contact with you-“

Lance waved him off. “Dude, I’m messing with you. I was wondering how I was going to find you again anyway. Should have known you’d find me!”

Keith relaxed, but then his com beeped in his ear. He pressed a finger to it. “Go ahead.”

“We’ve got an issue on the bridge!” Pidge’s voice filtered through.

Keith straightened up. “What kind of issue?” Now Lance was standing up, worried eyes watching Keith.

“Police scanners are saying there’s a goliath figure throwing cars around, and there are trapped civilians on the bridge!”

“I’ll be right there.” He cut the connection and rushed to the edge of a building, but a hand at his elbow made him pause.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked, his previous playfulness absent from his eyes, concern replacing it.

“Civilains on the bridge are in danger from some thing. It’s throwing cars around; I need to go and stop it before anyone gets hurt!”

Lance nodded and let him go. “Be careful!” He said, and Keith jumped into the night.

 

The police scanners were right when they called this thing goliath. They had large ears on either side of their head, and purple fur covered what Keith could see of their body, the rest was covered by a black and purple suit with a few other accent colors. Their huge arms were currently holding a car over their head, a woman was screaming inside, banging against the glass. Keith’s instincts took over, and he swung down onto the car unbeknownst to what Keith was sure was another experiment. He opened the car door, the woman throwing herself at him, and quickly swung her to safety, setting her down beside the police. Shiro stepped forward, and Keith had to keep his breathing under control.

“How many more civilians are on the bridge?” He asked evenly.

“We don’t know. That thing just keeps forcing our men back when we send them out to look!” Shiro responded solemnly.

“I’ll get them out.” Then Keith rushed back onto the bridge, scanning the cars he passed.

His search was cut short when a car came crashing at him. He jumped over it, checking to make sure it had been empty- which it had, thank god- and turned to face the thing. They snarled at him.

“So you finally decided to show up? I was wondering how many more people I would have to throw off this bridge before you’d show your face!” Their voice was deep, but feminine, and Keith began to wonder what they had looked like before the experiment.

“Who did this to you?” Keith said curtly.

“You assume I participated unwillingly?” She laughed. “No, I volunteered!” Well, that was something, but it didn’t tell Keith who was responsible.

He didn’t get to repeat the question, though, as then she charged him, knocking aside the cars in her path. He jumped as her fist smashed in the roof of the car he had been crouched on, and ran up her arm, shooting a web in her face before leaping off, attaching another web to her back. Then he circled her, wrapping her up until she fell to her knees. Keith smirked, he could handle this.  
But then she flexed her arms, and broke free of the webs. Damn, she had to be strong to be able to do that, his webs were of quality strength- Pidge approved! He tapped his com, reestablishing connection.

“Pidge, this experiment just broke free of my webs!”

“What?! Okay, we’ll deal with that later, but you think this is another experiment?”

Keith hummed his agreement, dodging another attack.

“Try to get some DNA from them, so we can test it back at the lab!”

“Well, she’s covered in fur, so I’ll try and grab some of that!” 

“Roger that!”

He turned off the com and refocused on the fight before him. But then he saw Shiro weaving between the cars and followed his path to see two young children huddled beside a car a few feet away. Unfortunately, Shiro also caught his opponent’s eye and she turned with a roar, but Shiro didn’t stop, didn’t even spare a glance, just kept running towards the kids. The experiment raised her fist, but Keith leapt in front of the children, catching the fist as it came down. He grunted as she increased her pressure, but luckily Shiro arrived just in time, sweeping the children into his arms and with a nod of thanks towards Keith, retreated. Keith rolled out from under the fist, which cracked the pavement it collided with. 

He resolved to check the rest of the bridge for anymore civilians before engaging any further. Hopping from one car to the next as quickly as he could, he looked for any more people in danger, but found none. He sighed in relief, one less thing to worry about. Now he just had to figure out how to restrain his attacker.

However, he didn’t get to finish that thought as he heard a car horn, and turned to find a car speeding towards the experiment. In the driver’s seat he spotted Lance, a determined smirk on his face.

“Mother-“ Keith cursed, swinging down and landing a kick on the experiment's chest, making her stumble out of the pathway of the car, which skidded to a halt.

“Dammit, man! I had that!” Lance’s voice drifted over to him.

Keith whirled on him, stalking over to where Lance was leaning out the window.

“You can’t keep showing up and running things over, Lance!” He growled. “It’s too dangerous!”

“Hey, woah, we both agreed to work together, and you didn’t say anything about me staying behind for this!” Lance argued back.

“I thought it was implied by me leaving you atop that building!”

“Well, it wasn’t!” Lance huffed, crossing his arms and pouting.

“You need to get-“ Keith didn’t get to fishing his sentence and he was roughly knocked away.

He skidded across the pavement, amazed his suit hadn’t torn, but then again not really since in was Pidge certified. He groaned as he got to his feet, shaking his head, his vision clearing in time to see Lance soar over him, still buckled inside his car.

“A little help!” He yelled, eyes wide and terrified.

The car disappeared over the side of the bridge, and Keith rushed forward, not thinking, only acting. He jumped over the side, shooting one web up at the bridge with one hand, and another at the bumper of Lance’s car with his other hand. He yelled out when the tension caught up with him, feeling as if his arms were going to be ripped off. He slowly but surely attached the two strands of webs together, freeing his hands. He shot a few more webs between the car and the bridge just in case, before crawling onto the car. It was hanging nose down, and the back window was shattered. He knocked away the extra glass before peering inside. 

“Lance?” He called.

“I’m here,” Lance replied weakly, unbuckling himself and turning around to look at Keith sheepishly. “I know, I know. You were right, and I’m an idiot!”

Keith smirked, he wanted to be angry, but couldn’t find it inside of him. “Let’s get back onto the bridge.” Was all he said.

“Yes please!” Lance squeaked, but stayed where he was, looking around him anxiously.

“What is it?”

“I’m, uh, afraid of heights.” Lance said shyly. “Only a teensy-bit though.” He quickly added, holding up two fingers to show the measure of a teensy-bit.

“That’s fine, but I’m going to need you to climb up to me.” Lance nodded, eyes hardening determinedly, raising a shaking hand. “Hey, Lance.” Blue eyes found him once more. “I’ve got your back.” And there was Lance’s stunning smile.

Hesitantly, Lance started the climb, gingerly lifting a long leg onto the backseat, then the other. He paused when the car swayed, but started once more as it settled. His hands grasped the fabric of the backseat, fingernails digging into the worn leather. The car lurched, and Lance let out a screech, closing his eyes tightly. Keith spun around, looking up to where his webs were stuck to the bridge. And there he saw her. The experiment was using her long claws to sever his webs, and had already cut one.

“What’s going on?” Lance’s hesitant voice called out.

Keith expertly maneuvered his body to block his view. “Nothing, just the wind. Come on, you’re almost there!” He urged, reaching out a hand.

Lance nodded and reached for his outstretched hand, fingertips brushing, but another lurch sent them retreating, Lance colliding with the back of the driver’s seat. Keith cursed quietly, but then he heard the sound of gunshots, whirling around to see the police advancing, guns raised, and halting her attempts to dunk them into the river. He turned back to Lance, reaching out a hand again.

“You can do this. Adventure, remember?” He encouraged, voice gentle.

Lance swallowed and nodded, beginning his ascent again. Keith watched tensely as Lance’s hands gripped the leather once more, his feet finding leverage on the seats. Keith licked his lips, eyes never leaving Lance’s form the entire time. And then his hand was reaching out to Keith, a small triumphant smile on his face. But then the car groaned, and it shifted to a look of horror as Lance started getting further away. Time seemed to move agonizingly slow, Keith’s senses finally catching up with the situation. The final web had snapped, and Lance, as well as himself, were currently plummeting towards the rushing water of the river. He shot out a hand, web flying towards Lance and attaching to his chest. Blue eyes found his, and he pulled Lance up to him through the back window, Lance curling in on himself to fit through. Only when his arms were wrapped tightly around Lance’s chest did Keith twist and shoot a web back up to the bridge. He watched as it soared while they fell, urging it higher, hoping it would reach in time. Lance was clutching his shoulders painfully tight, but he didn’t care, he was only focused on one thing.

Snap. Relief flooded through him as tension pulled them out of their descent. They bounced to a stop, Keith releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Lance just sighed loudly, his head falling onto Keith’s shoulder.

“Oh thank god!” He breathed.

“What? Didn’t you trust me?” Keith joked.

“I saw my life flash before my eyes, now is not the time for jokes.” He retorted, voice muffled by Keith’s shoulder. “And I just lost Blue. Double whammy!”

“Blue?”

“Yeah! My car! What am I going to tell my parents?” Lance wailed.

Keith chuckled, relieved they were both alive, and glanced back at the bridge, seeing Shiro peering down at them. The experiment must have run off. Keith waved a hand to let them know they were alright, and the police began to pull them up. Eventually, they reached the lip of the bridge, Keith handing Lance up first before climbing over the railing himself.

He received numerous pats on the back and vocalized ‘thank you’s, then the officers went back to work. Keith suddenly remembered he had forgotten to get a sample of fur, and set about scanning the scene for any evidence left behind. He located a bullet with some blood on it, and waved Shiro over.

“This may provide some DNA to tell us what that thing was exactly,” he explained. “Can I trust you to get it to the right person?” Meaning Allura. Shiro shook his head, slipping on gloves and placing the bullet in a bag. “Thank you.”

Keith spun on his heels, eyes finding Lance. He was speaking with an officer, who was writing down what he was saying, but his eyes flicked towards Keith. He smiled and gave a thumbs up, so Keith turned and shot off into the night.

 

His feet hit the cool cement of the roof of an apartment building. Keith was back atop Lance’s roof for the second time that night, hoping to make sure Lance had gotten home safely, though there was no doubt in his mind he had. Okay, so he was making an excuse to see Lance again, big deal. The clearing of a throat drew his attention, and he caught sight of Lance in the shadows. Lance stepped forward, a smile on his face. It seems Keith hadn’t been the only one hoping for a late-night visit.

“I was hoping you’d swing by,” Lance said, voice quiet.

“Really? Why?” Keith tried to play it cool.

“Well, I never got to thank you properly!” Lance squawked, like it was the most obvious thing.

“No need, really! I’m just doing my job!”

Lance scoffed, walking over and stopping closer than Keith had been expecting. “Like I haven’t heard that one before. Did you get all your lines from movies?” Lance chuckled.  
“I- wha- no!” Keith stuttered, unsure how to respond. Maybe it was just Lance’s close proximity messing with his mind.

Lance waved a hand, cutting him off. “Just let me thank you.” Keith shut up, eyes boring into Lance’s. “May I?”

Lance motioned to his mask, and Keith started. He wasn’t going to, was he? Keith’s fingers were lifting his mask before he could think properly, luckily stopping at the bridge of his nose. The back of his mask remained stuck to the back of his neck, so no hair was revealed. Lance’s hands found the sides of his head, and he leaned in. 

Warm lips captured his, and Keith hummed in pleasant surprise, his hands curling in Lance’s shirt. He pulled the boy closer to him, angling his head back to deepen the kiss. Lance pulled away with a smile, and he searched Keith’s mask, probably trying to locate his eyes. Then he smirked, and pulled Keith into the shadows, their lips connecting once more. Lance’s hands dropped from Keith’s face, roaming down his arms, and then finding his waist. Keith felt like his chest was on fire, and he pushed Lance against the wall, hands braced on either side of his body. But then he pulled back, realizing what he was doing and tugged his mask over his mouth reluctantly. Lance was leaning against the wall, eyes dazedly watching Keith with a smirk on his face. 

“If I knew putting myself in danger would lead to makeouts on rooftops I would have done it sooner,” he chuckled breathily, and a shiver traveled down Keith’s spine. 

“Don’t go putting yourself in danger anymore just for that though,” Keith laughed, making his way back to the ledge.

“Mmm, no promises,” Lance smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. “Hey, it’s the weekend, so I can stay out later. Did you maybe wanna-“

“I can’t tonight.” Keith said quickly, before Lance finished his sentence and he succumbed to the temptation.

“Cool, no worries,” Lance deflated a bit.

“But maybe tomorrow?” Keith added, and Lance perked up, wide smile catching his lips once more. 

And with that, he fell back off the ledge, free-falling for a bit until he let his web catch him, though he felt like he could actually fly at the moment. He let out a whoop and at the climax of his swing, let go of the web, doing a backflip before shooting another web. He felt on top of the world at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Klance! Okay, hope you liked this chapter! It was really fun to write with and I love the dynamic between Keith and Lance! (Which means more scenes like the bridge and rooftop scenes, but I promise Lance won't always be the helpless damsel) And yup, that was Zethrid on the bridge. I didn't want to use her name for some reason, it just didn't fit into how I wanted the dialogue to be, so sorry if it got confusing at times. If you think adding in her name will make reading easier lemme know, and I'll fix for you guys!  
> Also, Coran Chronicles- I'm so proud of this name! It's hilarious and I love it! Don't worry, Coran (coran, the gorgeous man) will be introduced in the next chapter. Thinking it's going to be lance-centric chapter, get his side of the story!  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Lance. Coran! Lance stretches his reporter skills. And more klance.

Lance hummed along with his favorite song as he walked briskly down the New York City streets, which were especially busy with it being a Saturday. Lance expertly maneuvered between people, used to the crowds because this was New York City, man! And New York City equaled crowds. He wore the only suit he owned because Coran insisted he dress in the company uniform, which was a suit and tie. He pulled out his earbuds as he swung open the doors to his work, flashing the desk lady a smile and finger guns.

“Good morning, Nyma!”

The girl giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand and blushing slightly. “How’s your story coming along?” She asked in a smooth voice. 

“Marvelously!” Lance said dramatically, rushing over to the elevator and climbing inside, heading for the top floor.

He stepped out and made his way to Coran’s office, weaving between cubicles. He straightened his tie, took a deep breath, and dawned a winning smile before stepping inside, finding the orange haired man scribbling furiously behind his desk. He looked up, spotting Lance, and a wide smile pulled at his lips.

“Lance, my boy! Good to see you!”

“Coran, my man! I was just here on Thursday!”

“Yes, well, it’s always good to see you! Especially after that stunt you pulled on the bridge!”

“Yeah, but I’m good! Spiderman saved me,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, just reminded his rescue was known by the public. School was going to be hell; he’s going to be bombarded with questions.

“By the way, how’s your story coming along?” He stood up from his desk, brushing the papers before him off to the side.

“Great actually. I even got to talk with Spiderman, er, before he had to save me, and he answered some of the questions I asked him!” Lance exclaimed.

“That’s incredible!” Coran started, eyes wide. “How did you manage that?”

“A reporter never reveals their secrets, you taught me that, Coran!” Lance smiled, and Coran matched it.

“Smart man! Glad you actually listen to what I say!” He sat back down behind his desk, clasping his hands together. “Coran Chronicles will be better off once you’re on the team!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be long! My story will knock your socks off!” Lance smiled so wide he thought his lips were going to split.

“I don’t doubt it, my boy. You’re writing always holds the most energy of my reporters. Now get back to work!” Coran said playfully, and Lance bowed showily before exiting the office.

He found his own cubicle and sat down, swirling in his swivel chair before settling at his desk. He pulled his notebook out of his backpack and flipped to the page where he had written his notes on Spiderman. 

Spiderman <3  
1\. Some weird sixth sense (ask for more info later)  
2\. Devastatingly handsome in spandex  
3\. Only been at this for a couple months apparently (probably shouldn’t put that in - ruin his public image)  
4\. Has a team (am I considered part of this team?)  
5\. Knows where I live  
6\. Saved my life  
7\. Good kisser (like really good)

Lance sat back, smiling at last night’s events, pencil tapping on his knee lazily. The feel of Spiderman’s lips on his, his hands clinging to his shirt, the way he had pushed him against the wall. A knock pulled Lance from his reverie, and he scowled at the person responsible.

Lotor leaned on his cubicle, a lazy smile on his face. His white hair rained past his shoulders, and he wore an impeccable dark suit. His father owned Galra Corp., so he had money to just throw away. Why was he in the reporting business you may ask? His answer was always to get out from under his father’s shadow.

“Whatcha doing?” Lotor drawled, and Lance snatched up his notebook before his eyes could wander over it.

“Working on my story, like you should be doing,” Lance retorted, glaring at his self-made arch nemesis.

Lotor may be a jerk, but he could write a damn good story. It was the only reason Coran kept him on the team, but maybe once Lance joined, Lotor would get the boot. At least, that’s what Lance hoped. 

“Just trying to make some friendly conversation,” he shrugged.

“Well, that won’t work ‘cause we’re not friends!” Lance growled.

Lotor just shrugged and strutted away, hair swaying behind him. Lance watched him go through narrowed eyes. That guy just rubbed him the wrong way. 

Now back to my regularly scheduled program, Lance thought with a smile. He was over the moon that Spiderman had agreed to visit him tonight, especially after what went down last night. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that he didn’t actually know who Spiderman was, just his façade, but he’d figure that out soon enough, you can’t hide something from a reporter forever. What was important, his mama had always told him, was their character. And Spiderman’s character was selfless, courageous, and intelligent, from what he’s seen so far. 

The rest of the work day passed with Lance getting very little work done, but he wasn’t concerned. He’d have plenty of material to work with by the due date, and his writing skills never let him down. He packed up, and made his way outside, smiling when he saw it was raining slightly. He raised his face to the sky, soaking up the feeling of water dripping down his skin, then he continued on his way. 

He spotted Lotor crossing the street ahead of him, and changed his direction last minute to follow. He knew almost nothing about this guy, so his natural curiosity got the best of him. It was easy to trail someone in New York because of the crowds, so Lance didn’t have to do much sneaking to remain out of sight. He soon saw the Galra Corp. skyscraper towering ahead of him, which only sparked questions. Lotor was adamant about staying away from his father’s shadow, so why show up to his work, the very company Zarkon has dedicated his life to and that Lotor so vehemently disgraced? 

Lotor pulled up his hood as they approached, eyes scanning the crowd before entering the building. He hadn’t seen Lance because he had strategically placed himself behind a lamppost, only stepping out when Lotor disappeared inside. He quickly followed, spying Lotor turning down a hallway. He made to proceed, but was stopped by a security guard.

“You work here?” they questioned, looking him up and down for some sort of identification.

“No, I just need to use the bathroom!” Lance smiled sweetly, doing a subtle pee-pee dance to convince the guard.

They nodded and jerked a hand to the hallway Lotor had just turned down. “Down that hall, third door on your left.” Then the guard left him alone.

He peered around the corner, making sure Lotor wasn’t around to see him, and found the coast clear. He padded down the hall, glancing into each room he passed, but only saw conference rooms. Lance’s mood soured, he was sure he had been onto something, he thought as he continued to walk down the hall. Then he heard voices, speaking in hushed whispers, and the conversation didn’t sound pleasant, not to mention they were coming right towards him. He lunged for the closest door- another conference room, what a surprise- and thanked the universe it was unlocked, ducking inside, leaving a crack for him to peer through. Two figures came into view, Lotor and a woman with equally white hair. She wore a purple lab coat and was pinching her nose, finding whatever Lotor had said displeasing.

“You have to convince father I’m ready. He won’t listen to me!” Lotor said.

“He will not so easily take you back after you abandoned him and his project. You must prove to him that you are trustworthy.” The woman spoke, voice careful and raspy. 

“Then help me! Lend me the equipment I need!” Lotor pleaded.

Their voices grew too quiet for Lance to hear as they entered a set of double doors, taking them elsewhere. Lance wanted to follow them, but he still had some errands to run for his parents, and he had to get it all done before Spiderman showed up. He mentally resolved to come back and investigate further, when things were a little more…quiet. 

He straightened himself up and exited the room, retracing his steps to the front door. His mind replayed the Lotor’s conversation as he walked home, picking up some groceries on the way, but he couldn’t make sense of it. He dismissed it from his mind as he approached his apartment. 

“Mama! I’m home!” He yelled as he closed the door behind him with a foot. “And I brought food!”

The smiling face of his mother appeared, and she quickly embraced him in a tight hug, kissing his cheek.

“How was work?” She smiled, then her eyes flitted down to the bags in his hands. “Oh, thank you! I will take those for you,” she carried them into the kitchen, Lance trailing her as he recounted his day; she listened with a smile.

“Where’s everyone else?” Lance asked after finishing his very detailed account, eyes wandering around the apartment.

“Papi is working late, and Mia and Max are both at a friend’s house for the night.” His mother explained.

Lanced hummed in response, internally praising the universe as he’d have his room to himself tonight. Maybe he’d actually get to sleep in! He walked back to the room he shared with his two younger siblings, throwing his backpack to the floor, and shoving some stray clothes under his bed to at least try and make the room somewhat respectable. He’d go stir-crazy if he didn’t do this once in a while. Then he went back out to help his mother fix dinner; they danced to their favorite songs as they cooked.

 

Lance sat atop the roof, jacket pulled close around him as the wind was blowing hard tonight. He sighed and glanced at his watch- 2am- he’d been sitting up here for about an hour now. He sighed and let his head fall against the wall, his breathing soon evening out and he fell asleep.

He awoke to a gentle shaking, his eyes slits as he grumbled, seeing a blur of red and blue in front of him. He sat up, mind suddenly clear, as he took in Spiderman crouching before him, arms raised apologetically.

“Sorry, I, uh, can come back another night if you’re tired,” he said softly.

“No!” Lance blurted out. “I just got bored waiting for you to show up! What took ya? Did it take you longer than you thought to get ready for me?” Lance smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No, I was just, um, just doing my regular patrol, and-“

“Dude, I’m messing with you again!” Lance chuckled. “I know. I would wait all night for you, so don’t neglect your duties for me.”

Spiderman seemed to be at a loss of words after that, so Lance leaned forward, his face less than an inch from Spiderman’s now. Spiderman didn’t even flinch, and Lance’s smile stretched wider. 

“So, what’d you want to meet up for?” Spiderman cleared his throat, but didn’t move away.

“I think you know,” Lance whispered, eyes shining in the moonlight.

“You don’t even know who I am. We can’t keep doing this,” Spiderman said, disappointment tingeing his voice.

“I know that, but why not see how this plays out?” Lance reached out a hand, grabbing for the mask, but Spiderman pulled away.

He began pacing in front of Lance, who followed him with his eyes. He was definitely having an internal argument with himself, so Lance decided to help him out.

“Hey,” he said softly, grabbing a hand and bringing Spiderman back down to him. “You may think it’s Spiderman I’m in love with, and you’re not wrong, but that isn’t what’s important. What’s important is why I love you. The mask may hide your identity, but it doesn’t hide your character.” Spiderman looked to be holding his breath, his body frozen as he stared back at Lance, hanging on every word. “You’re selfless and brave. You go out every night to help others even though you have another life to juggle during the day. You’re twice the person I am.”

Spiderman was silent for a while, and Lance bit his lip, but then he spoke, voice hopeful. “You mean that?”

“Yeah,” Lance licked his lips. “I do.”

Then Spiderman peeled back his mask, only to his nose though, and grabbed Lance’s face, smashing their lips together. Lance squeaked in surprise, but melted into the motion, letting the warmth flood his body. He leaned back against the wall, pulling Spiderman with him, who adjusted as necessary. He was soon straddling Lance’s body, their lips never separating, and Lance reveled at the new angle, gasping and breaking the kiss to breathe, only for a moment though. He roughly pulled Spiderman back onto him, earning a small chuckle, and let his hands settle on his hips, nails digging in as if he was afraid Spiderman was just going to disappear. Spiderman licked his lips, and Lance invited him in, groaning as he licked the top of his mouth.  
Then Lance let his hands roam, thankful for whoever designed his spandex suit. He could feel every muscle under his fingers, and even his spine as he followed the curve of his back, finally earning a gasp as he did so. Then his hands found their way to his face, tracing his jawline and then rubbing his thumbs across his cheeks, following the line of his mask. He broke the kiss, their ragged breathing immediately breaking the silence. Lance let his thumb brush over Spiderman’s lips, feeling him shiver, as they stared at each other.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured, but I just want you to know you can show me whenever you’re ready,” Lance whispered, eyes half-lidded as Spiderman was currently drawing a circle on his collarbones with a finger. 

“Not yet,” his voice rasped after an agonizing minute. “I can’t give you that weight to carry, not yet.”

Lance tried not to let his disappointment show, but he grabbed Spiderman’s wrists and looked at him in the eyes- he hoped that’s where his eyes were- and smiled.

“You don’t have to worry about me, babe,” he tested the nickname in his mouth, deciding he liked it. “I can take care of myself. But I can wait.”

Spiderman nodded, looking less tense than before. “You’re not invincible, Lance.”

“Neither are you,” he immediately shot back.

“Just use your head.” Spiderman sighed, shaking his head at Lance, his voice betraying what his mask didn’t- that he was smiling.

“I always do. I’m a-“

“Yes, I get it. You’re a reporter! And I’m the Amazing Spiderman. I think I at least outrank you with that adjective, so you need to listen to what I say.”

“l live by your words, babe.” Lance winked. 

“Yeah, you’ve really proven your loyalty,” Spiderman scoffed, though not unkindly, standing and Lance pouted as his body cooled by at least ten degrees.

“Well, we’ve still got time if you wanna see how loyal I am,” Lance smiled a winning smile. 

“I can’t. Not now.” Spiderman said determinedly, probably speaking to himself. “I’ll see you around, Lance, probably more than you realize.” 

Lance’s eyes jerked up Spiderman, trying to decode what he meant by that statement. He was still trying to figure it out when Spiderman leapt into the night. Lance rushed to the edge of the building, watching with a hand under his chin as the figure receded, swinging above the city streets like no one was watching- which no one probably was watching, except Lance, too preoccupied with their own tasks. Lance turned away with a sigh, unable to stop the smile on his face. His heart jumped in his throat when a mew sounded, and he turned to see a black cat run from the shadows. What was a cat doing up here? Lance chuckled, then raced down to his apartment, giddy with excitement as his life seemed to align for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what's Lotor planning? Guess we'll have to wait and see! Will Spiderman ever let Lance know his secret? Sure doesn't seem like it.  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Kudos always appreciated, let's me know i'm on the right track! Much to come in the future chapters as Keith and Lance's lives are flipped upside down as Team Spiderman is thrown into something bigger than they expected!


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes plans, and Lotor throws a wrench in it. Keith and his team have a break through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter so far! I just kept writing, and couldn't stop. Hope you enjoy it!

Keith didn’t see Lance again until English class on Monday when he trudged into class, taking his seat beside Keith as he had ever since they became partners. He looked tired, but he still seemed to glow.

“What? No questions?” He muttered, head falling onto his arms.

Keith turned a confused gaze on him. “Am I supposed to be asking you questions?” Keith asked, worried he had missed something.

“No, no!” Lance waved a hand, a smile splitting his face. “Everyone just keeps asking me about my encounter with Spiderman. I’m glad you aren’t though, it’s refreshing! I’ve talked about that enough today and it’s only first period!”

Keith relaxed, laughing as well. “Well, glad to be of service. And I bet you’ve got some interesting things to bring to our project now!”

“You bet I do!” Lance smirked, and Keith swallowed, something Lance could include running through his mind, dusting his cheeks red.

Keith cleared his throat. “Good, ‘cause I’ve got nothing.” Lance’s laughter rang out in the quiet classroom.

 

“So, are you gonna tell him?” Pidge asked Keith for the fifth time that day.

They were sitting at their usual lunch table in the back corner of the cafeteria, and Pidge was grilling him about saving Lance, wanting every detail, which Keith was obviously not going to give her.

“I already told you, Pidge. I can’t dump that secret on him!”

“I agree with Keith on this one,” Hunk cut in, speaking around a bite of his sandwich. “It’s the smart decision.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Since when has Keith made smart decisions? Come on! Live a little. I bet Lance is smitten by Spiderman, a.k.a you! Just tell him and he’s yours!”

Keith glared at her. “It’s not that easy!” He hissed. “If what you say is true, then he’s in love with Spiderman, not me! If I tell him, he’s going to be disappointed and it’ll ruin his image of Spiderman! I can’t do that to him, I can’t do that to anybody!”

Hunk nodded encouragingly, while Pidge shook her head in frustration. Then she opened her computer, scrolling and clicking until she found what she was looking for.

“Okay, so the results from that bullet you had Shiro send us came in today. Allura sent it to me, and I have to say it’s a match. The same sort of energy was bonded to this woman’s DNA, though it seemed to have a different effect on her than sparky. This leads me to believe this element is unstable, and whoever is experimenting with it is studying the different effects it can have. But why set the experiments loose on New York City afterwards, I don’t know.”

“What? Pidge doesn’t know something?” A playful voice interrupted them, and Lance slid into the seat beside Keith.

“Oh, hey Lance! And not exactly. I just don’t have enough evidence to form a theory for a project I’m working on.” Pidge said, closing her computer. 

“I see. Well, maybe you have an answer for me,” everyone stared at Lance with perplexed looks. He continued, taking no notice. “You all work for Altea Inc., right?” All three nod. “And their rival is Galra Corp.?” More nods. “Do you know anything about the recent projects the Galra Corp. have been working on?”

The three of them were caught off guard by Lance’s question and thought about how to respond.

“From what we can tell they’ve been pretty inactive for the past couple of years,” Hunk spoke up first.

Pidge adjusted her glasses, leaning forward a bit. “Why do you need to know?”

“It’s just for some story I’m writing for Coran Chronicles, nothing big!” Lance smiled, but Keith knew that was a lie. “None of the executives have contacted me back with answers to my questions, so I’m kinda desperate right now!”

“Oh, well I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help.” Hunk shrugged apologetically. “Maybe we can ask Allura when we go in today?”

“That’d be great! You’re the best, Hunk!” Lance flashed a dazzling smile.

Then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and they all collected their items, standing and walking out of the cafeteria together. When it came time for Lance to split off, he turned to them with finger guns.

“I’ll see you guys in gym, right?” Nods all around once more. “Great, catch ya’ later, partner!” He winked at Keith, who felt his stomach flutter.

He glanced at Pidge, rolling his eyes when she mouthed ‘just tell him,’ and pulled his backpack higher up on his shoulder, stalking back to class with Hunk and Pidge following closely. Keith barely paid attention in the rest of his classes, his mind lingering on Lance. Why had he lied? And why was he interested in Galra Co.? He never mentioned any concerns about them to Spiderman? This confused him, and he didn’t have a good feeling about it.

 

Lance checked his watch and smiled when he saw he was right on time for once. And it was no coincidence; he’d been planning this since his escapade following Lotor, and tonight he was putting it in action. It’d been hard to keep his mouth shut at school in his excitement, especially to Keith who he had become closer to since they partnered up on the Spiderman project, and who he found surprisingly easy to talk to. Spiderman. Lance felt guilty keeping this from him, but it was something Lance had to do alone. He wasn’t even sure if this would amount to anything, maybe he was reading too far into things, but whatever was going on, he’d find out tonight.

He flung open the doors to Coran Chronicles, waving at Nyma, and rushing up to his cubicle. He quickly got busy, finalizing the details and trying to settle his excited nerves. It was quiet on the floor today, everyone busy with deadlines and paperwork; Lotor hasn’t even stop by to chat like he usually did. Lance scanned the floor for white hair but came up empty. Maybe Lotor wasn’t here today? What a dream that would be!

“Missin’ me?” Lance growled when that too smooth voice sounded from behind him.

He spun around with a tight smile, laying eyes on Lotor, who was leaning smugly against the wall. His hair was braided today, and he wore a deep plum purple suit with a black shirt and tie. Lance scowled at his perfection.

“Course not. I was actually just thinking about how amazing it would be if you weren’t here today.” Lance retorted.

“Ah, what a shame.” Lotor said, no disappointment in his voice at all. “You free tonight?”

Lance gaped at him, but he only winked in response. “I wouldn’t tell you even if I was.”

“Aw, no need to be like that. I only want to better our work relationship, nothing more! Maybe we can even work on a story together, with the two best writers on one story no one will stand a chance! Maybe we can get the scoop on this Spiderman that’s been swinging around.” Lotor smiled easily.

“Absolutely not. And I’m already writing a story on Spiderman, anyways.” Lance continued to scowl. 

“Oh, really? Got anything good?”

“Get lost, Lotor. You can read it in the paper like everyone else when I’m done.” And with that Lance turned back around, signaling the conversation was over. 

Lotor took the hint and actually did leave. Lance sighed in relief; that guy really gives him the creeps. He was left to himself the rest of his shift, quickly gathering his things and shoving them in his bag when he saw Lotor get onto the elevator at the end of the day. He took the stairs, entering the lobby as Lotor was stepping through the doors. Just as before, Lance followed the mysterious man to the Galra Co. building, taking care to stay far enough behind to remain out of sight. When he entered the building, he didn’t encounter any guards as he had previously, and quickly made his way to the bathroom. Bingo. He smiled when he saw a small window set into the wall above the last stall. He glanced around, making sure he was alone, then entered the stall, stepping onto the toilet to reach the window. He unlocked it, pushing it open enough that it wouldn’t be noticed when the guards did their rounds. This would be his entry point when he returned later tonight after hours. Lance smiled, his plan sliding into place.

 

Keith met up with Pidge and Hunk in the school’s courtyard, so they could walk to Altea Co. together as usual. Keith was still hung up on Lance’s question. Lance hadn’t brought it up again during gym class, and Keith began wondering if maybe he was reading too far into it.

“What’s got you brooding this time?” Pidge poked his arm, interrupting his thoughts.

“It’s Lance,” Keith sighed. “And I’m not brooding!”

“If it’s about Lance, you’re definitely brooding.” Pidge smirked.

“Shut up.”

“What about Lance?” Hunk added from Keith’s other side.

“He lied when he said he needed the information for an article he was writing on Galra Co.” Keith said, shoving his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders against the wind.

“How do you know?” Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow.

Keith sighed, forgetting he hasn’t told them about his agreement with Lance. Should he tell them? He glanced at both of their expectant faces, and decided he needed to. They were a team, and a team doesn’t keep secrets from each other. 

“Lance and I, well Spiderman, have an agreement. He’s writing his article about me- Spiderman- and I agreed to partner up with him for his story.” Keith glanced at Pidge’s smug face and Hunk’s confused face. “He blackmailed me into it, okay! He was just going to follow me around anyway, so might as well have some control over it.”

Pidge and Hunk shared a glance, and Keith scowled. “What?”

“Nothing, you just actually made a smart decision. I’m proud of you!” Pidge said, and Hunk gave him a thumbs up.

“Wait, what? You’re not going to tease me?”

“Oh, there will be plenty of that!” Pidge added with a smirk. 

They arrived at Altea Inc. shortly after, Hunk holding open the door for both of them like the gentleman he is, and Allura met them at the door today, an excited smile on her face.

“Did you get the results?” 

“Yeah. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Pidge nodded in confirmation.

“That we’re onto something big here?” Allura smiled widely, voice pitching in excitement.

Pidge nodded and the girls high-fived. Talking excitedly about the results the rest of the way up to the lab, Keith and Hunk following behind, watching them with fond amusement.

“I think our next move is to test Keith’s DNA,” Pidge said as she shrugged on her lab coat.

“Agreed,” Allura hummed, pulling her hair back, then turned to Keith. “You’re the only other person to experience a mutation outside of these experiments, meaning that they’ve been controlled so far. If you are somehow connected to them, that could give us some more information on the spider that bit you, which I still haven’t found any records for.”

“Okay, but that still won’t help us figure out who is doing these experiments.” Keith muttered, crossing his arms. 

“I think I’ve figured out a solution to that!” Hunk butted in. “This element is totally unique, right? Well, what if we made a device that specifically locks onto its chemical residue?”

“Hunk, you’re a genius!” Allura clapped her hands together.

“That…might actually work!” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses. “Then, we can locate where the radiation is most prominent and voila, we have the perpetrator!” 

The energy inside the lab was electric, everyone feeling the buzz of excitement at the new development.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to it!” Keith laughed, revealing his own giddy attitude.

Everyone got to work, Allura getting a sample from Keith and beginning the process on that, while Pidge and Hunk hauled in spare parts to begin building the device. They worked late into the night, Keith fiddling with his web shooters, while Allura took over analyzing his DNA on the computer, and Pidge and Hunk assembled the new technology. It was almost 10 o’clock when Pidge slapped her hands down on the table, and Hunk gave a whoop, startling Allura and Keith from their work. 

“It’s finished! All that’s left is to test it!” Pidge exclaimed.

Allura strolled over from the computer, coming up to look over Keith’s shoulder. “That’s great! You two are truly incredible!” She said, hands clasped excitedly. “And Keith’s DNA results will be in any moment now!”

All four of them leaned in close as they watched the device power up, then Hunk typed in some things that looked like a foreign language to Keith- the chemical makeup of the mystery element Pidge explained- and they held their breath as the device scanned the surrounding area. 

“This little thing is able to scan the entire city?” Keith asked doubtfully.

“Yup. We connected it to the satellite atop Altea Inc., so the signal is boosted city-wide.” Hunk explained, and Keith smiled at his friends’ cleverness.

“You guys are so awesome.” He got wide smiled from Pidge and Hunk.

Ten minutes later, the device pinged, signaling the results were in. Pidge removed the built-in flash drive from it and stuck it into her laptop. Everyone was now crowded around her screen, heads pressed against each other as the data loaded. A map quickly appeared on the screen, numerous colors decorating it and making Keith dizzy.

“Okay, so the green and yellow means little to no residual evidence of our element,” Pidge explained, pointing to the corresponding spots, which made up a majority of the map. “Purple signifies not a dangerous amount, but enough that we should still pay attention to it. For example, here and here,” she pointed at said locations on the map. “Is where Keith encountered those mutants, their residual energy still present. And as you’ve probably guessed, red is the highly concentrated areas.”

There were two large areas of red on the map, and Keith squinted at them. “So, where are these spots located?”

“This one is right under us, Altea Inc., which I’m assuming is that room that contained the spider that bit you. There must still be a large amount of our element down there!” Allura looked grim, her hand rubbing across her lips absentmindedly as she thought.

“That is surprising and concerning. I will look into it further. But what about the other location?”

“This is where things get interesting,” Pidge said, glancing around at the group. “This is Glara Co.” 

“I knew there was something suspicious about them! I always get the creeps when I’m near that building!” Keith growled immediately. 

Honestly, he should have known. What other company in New York City had the power, money, and resources to purchase and conceal such an element. And it made sense that they haven’t released any new technology, because they were busy experimenting!

“Of course! It only makes sense,” Allura spoke up, mirroring his thoughts, her eyes showing the fire Keith felt. “Who else has the resources to create those experiments.” 

“But why would they set them loose on the city?” Hunk gulped.

“It’s time we find out.” Keith muttered, anger and determination flaring up inside his chest.

 

Lance retraced his steps from earlier, pausing on the street to stare up at the looming purple letters atop the building. A shiver ran down his spine, and he moved on, bypassing the doors for the alleyway beside the skyscraper. He was dressed in all black, hoping to remain inconspicuous, and a backpack containing his camera was on his back. He spotted the window he had opened earlier in the bathroom and climbed atop a dumpster to reach it. He pulled it fully open, peaking inside and seeing only darkness. He slung his bag inside first, hearing it land with a thunk, making him inwardly cringe as he thought about the camera that had cost him a month’s work of wages inside. He followed it, landing gracefully on the toilet seat, surprising himself, and closing, but not locking, the window behind him. He collected his items and cracked the door of the bathroom, finding the halls empty, as expected. He couldn’t stop the wide grin on his face as he stepped out into the hall, so far so good.

Lance passed the room he had hid in on his first visit and continued to the doors Lotor had disappeared through, peeking through the windows before cautiously opening them. They led to a set of stairs. Up or down? Lance pondered, finger tapping his chin. Footsteps on the stairs above him made the decision for him- down it was. He quietly descended, pausing occasionally to listen for any signs of other life, only met with silence each time. The stairs dead-ended into a steel door, a keypad attached to the wall beside it. Lane cracked his fingers.

“Okay, let’s see here,” his eyes scanned the numbers, fingers hovering above the pad as he thought.

Some of the numbers were wearing off, 4 numbers in particular actually, making them the most likely numbers to make up the code. That means there were around 250 combinations, Lance doing the math in his head, which while still a lot, narrowed it down exponentially. But alas, Lance was saved when the solid door suddenly swung open. He quickly dove behind so he would be blocked from view by the door itself, and luckily, the person seemed to be in a rush as they ascended the stairs without looking back. Lance slid inside before the door could lock once more. 

Lance found himself in a dim hallway, numerous doors lining it. He tiptoed forward, the first signs of his nerves making his hair rise. He peered through the window of the first door he came upon, finding a small room with a bed on the other side; however, it was empty. He continued, rushing to the end of the hall as he realized how vulnerable his position currently was, pausing when it split. He chose the right hall, and followed it, senses on high alert, until he came upon another door. He peeked inside, seeing large equipment and computers lining the walls, as well as a large glowing crystal at the center. Now this was interesting. Lance saw a couple scientists working on the crystal below; the door opened onto a metal balcony, and their backs were turned to Lance. This was his chance.

Lance pushed the door open slowly, ready to make a run for it if it made any sort of noise but was able to slip inside and close the door without incident. He ducked low, sticking close to the wall and the shadows. A line of large cylinders sat a little ways away, and Lance ducked behind them, peeking between them to watch the happenings below. He set his bag down, pulling out his camera, and leaning out when the coast was clear to snap some pictures. This was definitely abnormal, and Lance was going to find out what Galra Co. was up to.

Suddenly, the door Lance had just entered through swung open, slamming against the wall and making Lance wince. His eyes widened as he saw the experiment from the bridge walk inside, forced to duck so as not to hit her head on the door frame. Three women followed, one with pink hair, another with raven purple hair, and lastly a mysterious hooded woman. The faces Lance could see were set like stone and eyes glaring daggers at the scientists below them. They all wore similar outfits, tight to their skin, and dark with a few accent colors. Each suit was equipped with a hood, but only the one woman had theirs pulled up, completely shrouding her face; she held a black cat, which was as stoic as its owner. Lance slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle the gasp he had almost released when a certain man with flowing white hair stepped inside after them. He wore the same plum suit from earlier, as well as the smug smirk that always seemed to be on his face.

“Hello, boys,” he smiled, addressing the scientists below, who was staring back at him in shock. “Your duties are finished for tonight. You may go home.” He dismissed them.

“But, sir, your father-“

“I said you are dismissed.” Lotor growled, fixing the scientist who had spoken with a cold glare.

The three scientists bowed and shuffled up and out of the room without another word. Lotor and the four women descended to the crystal, Lotor grinning widely as he approached it, bathed in the purple light the crystal gave off.

“It is time to get to work, girls.” His voice gave Lance the chills, but he resisted the urge to run, and instead snapped some pictures. 

“Are you sure going against your father is the best idea?” The raven-haired girl spoke, arms crossed as she studied the crystal with narrowed eyes.

“Are you questioning my authority, Acxa?” Lotor growled.

“Of course not, I just want to prevent you from getting in over your head, sir.” She bowed her head respectfully, and Lotor relaxed.

“Thank you for your concern, but I know what I am doing and will appreciate no further questioning of my decision.” Lotor said coolly.

“I think this is going to work!” The pink haired girl exclaimed, dropping her stoic façade and bouncing on her feet. “I can’t wait to see you takeover!”

“Thank you, Ezor, but we still have a ways to go and obstacles to surpass. Most notably, that pesky Spiderman!” Lotor growled.

“Oh please, we can easily take him with my speed and Zethrid’s strength, Acxa’s cunning and intelligence and your secret weapon!” She replied peppily, doing a lap around the crystal in a blink of an eye to show off her unnatural speed. 

“It will be my honor to crush that puny spider!” Who Lance assumed was Zethrid, the one from the bridge, spoke, raising a fist into the air.

“Yes, and you will get your chance.” Lotor muttered. “Now, it’s time to put our plan in motion.” Lotor started, but Lance didn’t catch what else he said as a meow drew his attention to his feet.

The black cat sat there, peering up at him with yellow eyes; they meowed again. Lance nudged them away with his foot, shushing him, desperate to keep him quiet and not give away his hiding place. To his relief, the cat turned away with the swish of its tail, then jumped directly into the hooded woman’s arms. Lance gulped, he’d been found.

The woman grabbed his collar and threw him backwards, his back skidding across the metal grating. His camera came with him, clattering to the floor. He opened his eyes to find the pink haired girl standing over him triumphantly; she must have run up at the commotion.

“So, we’ve got a little stowaway, hm? Good work, Narti.” She smiled down at Lance, though it held no warmth.

She roughly grabbed him and pulled him to his feet, shoving him down the stairs towards Lotor. Lance refused to look up, glaring at his feet, his heart beating furiously in his chest.

“Lance, what a pleasant surprise.” He didn’t sound surprised at all, in fact, he sounded pleased. “Glad you decided to join us tonight.”

Lance’s eyes jerked up to Lotor’s face, met with his smug smile.

“You knew I was coming here?” He hissed, and Lotor’s smile widened.

“I was counting on it. Because you are part of the plan,” Lotor examined his nails lazily, then glanced up at Lance’s perplexed expression, smirking.

“You see, Narti here,” the hooded woman stepped beside Lotor, and Lance saw she was holding his camera, her cat now perched on her shoulders. “She’s my eyes, as ironic as it sounds since she’s blind, but her senses are exceptional, and she’s never failed me. And she reported back to me one night that she had seen you talking with Spiderman on a rooftop.”

All color drained from Lance’s face, cursing as he thought back to that night and remember the black cat he had seen after Spiderman left.

“What are you going to do to me?” Lance glared at Lotor.

“Haven’t decided yet, actually,” he replied with an air of nonchalance.

Anger flared inside Lance, anger at himself, anger at Lotor, anger at everything around him, and he screeched, lunging for Lotor. They toppled to the ground, but Lotor twisted in the air and was on top of him faster than Lance could process, pinning an arm behind him and pressing his face into the ground.

“I like your fire,” Lotor chuckled, his breath hitting Lance’s ear and making him squirm. “I can see why Spiderman lets you tag along.”

“He won’t come.” Lance ground out. “He doesn’t even know I’m here.”

“Maybe not, but I’ve got a plan for that. Girls, fire up the glider.”

Lotor released Lance, and Acxa and Ezor grabbed his arms, dragging him to his feet. Lotor took the camera from Narti and turned back to Lance. “Smile.” He grinned cruelly, snapping a picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O_o What has Lance gotten himself into this time, and will Keith be able to get him out?  
> Hope you guys enjoyed it! It's getting interesting now!  
> Also, just wanted to check in and see if everything makes sense. Anything a little muddy or unclear? I've been having a bit of writer's block where I just can't seem to find the right words, so let me know if you have any suggestions! Also, i've been rereading and found some inconsistencies (yikes! im so sorry) but am in the process of fixing them!


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets an uneasy feeling and finds out why. Keith's alter ego is unexpectedly revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry for the long radio silence. I had this finished last week, but forgot to post it! Gave me extra time to think some things through though, so enjoy!

Keith swung through the city, racing towards the Galra Co. building, glaring when the purple letters came into view. He was beating himself up for not acting on his intuition earlier, but he couldn’t focus on that now, he had to focus on the present. How was he going to get inside and find the evidence he needed? He climbed up onto the roof of the skyscraper, looking out over the city. He pressed the com on his ear. 

“Okay, I’m here.”

“Sending schematics of the building now.” Pidge murmured.

“Be careful!” Hunk’s voice came through, sounding nervous.

Keith’s phone beeped, and he opened the schematics Pidge sent. He looked it over, locating a vent system that would get him inside undetected.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll contact you if I find anything.” He cut communications.

The next thing Keith knew something collided with his shoulder, thrusting him over the side of the building, and leaving him falling through the air. A dark shape was flying away from him, and he squinted trying to discern it, but then it curved back around and was flying straight down towards him. He scrambled, finally collecting himself and shot out a web. He quickly attached himself to the side of the building, twisting to search for his attacker, cursing when they were right behind him. Keith flipped over them just in time, their helmet grazing his back and a hand brushing his ankle. This also gave him the chance to get a proper look at his attacker. 

They wore a dark green mask that made it look like they were wearing a twisted smile, its cheekbones and eyebrows were sharp, making their darkened eyes sink into their head dramatically; the whole face had an unnerving affect. Stark white hair flowed out from under the mask, billowing in the wind. They wore body armor of the same color, and made it obvious they were a man, and a belt looping around their waist held numerous spheres, throwing knives, and even a gun. Sporadic lines of purple glowed throughout the suit as well. But the most impressive thing, in Keith’s mind, was their glider. Pidge would have a field day if she got her hands on this. It was held aloft by two powerful turbines seamlessly integrated into the wings of the glider.

Keith shot a web on the bottom of it, swinging himself back up to land a kick on his opponent’s chest; however, he easily evaded him, dropping low so Keith soared over their head. Keith growled, pulling himself back onto the side of the building. He faced his attacker once again, eyes scanning for any weak points, calculating his next move carefully. He levelled a shot at his eyes, effectively blinding him, and then he shot at the turbines, hoping to clog them; however, the blades cut the webs effortlessly, and his opponent freed himself of the webs. 

“Enough,” he spat. “I am not here to fight! Not yet, at least.”

“Then why are you here?” Keith growled.

“To give you a gift.” The smile of the mask seemed all too real, and Keith suppressed a shiver. “I know you suspect Galra Co. as the creator of recent happenings. So-”

“I don’t suspect, I know.” Keith cut him off.

“Well, take this as a little getting-to-know-you present,” Keith neatly caught the object thrown at him, squinting at it as he turned it over in his hands until he realized it was a film case.

He jerked his gaze back to the mysterious man, peering at him suspiciously. “Who are you? What is this?”

“It would be a bit repetitive as I’ve already told you what it is. As for who I am, that’s not important, but just call me the Green Galra.” He spoke with an air of nonchalance, and Keith immediately disliked this guy. Something about him was off.

“Are you a friend or foe?” Keith narrowed his eyes.

“Neither.”

“Then why give me this?”

“You’ll see when the pictures are developed,” the tone in his voice perfectly matched the twisted smile, and this time Keith did shiver. “Toodles.” and before Keith could react, he soared up and out of sight; Keith was unable to track his direction.

He huffed, and crawled up the side of the building to the roof, where he sat down and pressed his comm.

“What’s up?” Pidge’s voice crackled in his ear.

“Just met someone, someone new.” Keith said, trying to collect his thoughts, mind and nerves buzzing from the previous encounter.

“What? Who?!”

“He calls himself the Green Galra.”

“Great, another experiment,” Pidge groaned. “Did you take him down?”

“No. He flew off before I could, but he gave me a roll of film. He knows we suspect Galra Co. too.”

“Wait, he flew off? And he gave you something? Is he with or against us?” Keith could tell Pidge was trying to work out what this guy’s motives were too, the questions pouring out at once.

“He said he’s neither. I just- I didn’t get a good feeling from him.”

“Why don’t you come back to the lab to develop the film roll, and so you can more easily explain this encounter to us. It sounds like we need to take this seriously.” Allura’s ever calm voice came through.

“Right. I guess I’ll have to come back to Galra Co. another night.” Keith turned off the comm-link and swung back to the lab, a sinking feeling sprouting in his chest as the distance between him and the skyscraper grew.

He was met with the concerned faces of his friends when he entered the room, having changed out of his suit already, and he knew his was equally grim. The film roll was gripped in his hand; he had tried to come up with what could possibly be on this roll- did this guy know his identity? Was he blackmailing Keith? He handed the roll over to Allura, who gave him a soft smile, though he could tell she was just as nervous and confused as he was, before turning away to prepare the film. 

Keith sat down in a chair beside Hunk heavily, his eyes drooping as his adrenaline wore off. 

“Start talking.” Pidge piped up after giving him a moment.

“Right,” Keith rubbed his hands across his face in an attempt to wake himself up, then he started retelling his encounter from the beginning, making sure to leave out no detail.

Pidge and Hunk, and Allura who joined shortly after, were listening intensely, nodding every once in a while to tell Keith that he was making sense, which was something he wasn’t entirely sure about right now. No one said anything after he finished, all lost in their thoughts.

“Well, I think the only thing we can do is wait for the pictures to develop and search the Galra Co. the next chance we get.” Pidge finally spoke up.

Everyone nodded, silently agreeing. Keith sighed, knowing they were right, but he wanted to end this now, wanted everything to make sense.

“Oh! I almost forgot. Keith’s DNA test results are finished, and it’s a match. Whatever that spider was contaminated with, it matches the mystery element bonded to the experiments’ DNA.” Allura announced.

“So, what now?” Keith asked, unsure how that can help them at the moment.

“I know it doesn’t make much sense now, but maybe it will later. As for our next move, we can’t do anything else tonight.” Allura said gently, knowing Keith felt frustrated. “Come back tomorrow, and the pictures will be developed. Then we’ll go from there.” She smiled softly at all of them, tugging her hair out of its bun, and yawning.

Everyone else yawned as well, and they said their farewells, Hunk and Pidge separating from Keith once they were outside the building.

 

Keith sat in first period, leg bouncing, and eyes darting to the clock as his fingers played with the pencil on his desk. Lance was always here ten minutes before class, and it was two minutes until the bell. Keith tried to reason with himself- maybe he’s just running late, or maybe he’s sick today- but nothing calmed the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Lance was known for his perfect attendance, having never missed a day of school since the first day of middle school, and there was no way Lance would let the sniffles steal that streak from him. The bell rang, and Keith’s heart sank.

He couldn’t focus on his work for the rest of class, and when he brought it up to Pidge and Hunk at lunch they shrugged it off, saying it could be any number of things and that Keith was just being a clingy boyfriend. He knew their teasing was only to lighten the mood, but Keith couldn’t shake this bad feeling. The rest of the day was a haze, and Keith rushed home to change and grab his suit, which he conveniently forgot, before heading to Altea Inc., praying Allura had some good news for him.  
When he walked through the door of his apartment, he was met with Shiro’s solemn face. Shiro was already dressed in his uniform despite his shift not starting until 7pm. He cleared his throat.

“Keith,” Keith’s stomach flipped at his gentle tone. The one he always used when he had to break bad news. 

“What happened?” Keith demanded, wanting to get it over with.

“Lance is missing. His mother called the station today after getting the call that Lance hadn’t been at school today. She said she hasn’t seen him since dinner the previous night, and he hasn’t called her about any plans, which she reported as unusual.”

Keith gulped. His heart was beating erratically, and he could ear the blood pounding in his ears. He knew he felt uneasy for a reason. He knew Lance couldn’t just be sick. Something bad happened to him, and it was Keith’s fault.

You’ll see when the pictures are developed, a smug voice echoed in his head. The Green Galra. He has Lance, Keith just knows it.

Without another word, Keith turned and raced out of the room. The pictures would be developed by now, and they were connected to Lance. He had to find him fast. Keith vaguely heard Shiro calling after him, but his mind was focused on one thing only- Lance.

He barged into the lab, breath ragged and hair wild. He was sure his hands were shaking, but he didn’t care. Pidge and Hunk were staring at him wide eyed from where they were huddled around the device they had built. Allura was looking at him sympathetically, and he immediately knew she knew.

“Where is he?”

Allura’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she composed herself. “I can’t tell exactly. It’s like pieces of a puzzle.”

“Show me.” Keith raced over to where Allura gestured, the pictures splayed out across the table.

Hunk and Pidge shared a concerned glance, then inched over as well, sucking in their breath when they saw what they contained.

“How did you know?” Pidge whispered, not wanting to break the fragile atmosphere.

“Shiro told me his mother reported him missing.” Keith said just as quietly.

He picked up the closest picture, which showed Lance glaring at the camera, restrained by two women, one with pink hair and a cold smile on her face, and another with raven-purple hair, face emotionless. Keith moved on to the next pic, mind becoming frantic for more information. This one showed the top of the Galra Co. building, another showed a crowded city street filled with business people and tourists. None of them seemed connected. There were more pictures with Lance in them, but Keith didn’t think he could handle seeing Lance hurt because of him. He picked up a picture showing people in white lab coats clustered around a purple crystal instead, and upon closer inspection he saw the crystal had wires that led to machines hooked up to it.

“I’m guessing this is our mystery element.” Keith muttered, passing the photo over to Pidge, Hunk leaning over her shoulder to peer at it as well.

Keith’s eyes caught white hair in another picture and he grabbed it, squinting to see the face of the man. It was a little blurry, washed out by a purple light, but his features were still visible. Keith had never seen him before.

“This is the Green Galra,” Keith announced, passing the photo to Allura who had immediately outstretched her hand. “The guy with white hair.” Keith pointed him out.  
Allura’s eyes narrowed as she examined the photo, then she suddenly gasped. “That’s Lotor, Zarkon’s son and heir of Galra Co., except he condemned his father’s work and now works for Coran as a reporter.

“That’s how he knows Lance.” 

“But what is he doing at Galra Co. when it is publicly known that he hates his father with a passion?” Allura passed the picture to Hunk and Pidge as she spoke.

“Maybe it’s all an act.” Pidge spoke up, placing the photo back on the table. “Maybe he still hates his father and is trying to sabotage his work, but in order to rid himself of suspicion, he’s created the assumption that he wants nothing to do with this company.”

“Then why is he working with one of the experiments? And I’m going to assume the other two are experiments as well.” Keith asked, face contorted as his mind tried to sift through all this information.

“Bought their loyalty? He’s actually the one who experimented on them? Who knows?” Pidge shrugged.

“I don’t like the looks of that crystal,” Hunk butted in nervously. “I know we’ve been saying it’s super unpredictable, but now that I’m actually seeing it-“ Hunk faded out with a gulp.

“I know what you mean,” Allura said grimly, eyes locked onto the picture. “We need to stop Lotor from going any further! And we need to find Lance, we can’t let Lotor-“ experiment on him too, was left unsaid, but everyone was thinking it.

“Keith!” A breathless Shiro burst through the door, startling everyone in the room. “You can’t just run off like that-“ Shiro quickly closed his mouth when he noticed the three other people staring at him.

They all quickly shuffled in front of the table, having no time to collect all the photos.

“What are you all doing?” Shiro cocked his head, glancing around the room.

“Working.” Keith mumbled, barely breathing.

“Right. You ran off to work after I told you Lance is missing,” Shiro narrowed his eyes in confusion, eyeing Keith suspiciously.

“Yes, Keith wanted to make sure Pidge and Hunk knew as they had been talking about Lance’s absence from school earlier.” Allura stepped forward, a winning smile on her face.

Shiro softened a little at the sight of Allura, but it didn’t erase his doubt. “He could have just called them. Keith, what’s going on?” He now turned his steady gaze on Keith, one full of worry and trust.

Keith sighed and glanced at his friends, who nodded subtly, showing their support. Then they all stepped aside.

“I’m the only one who can find Lance, Shiro. It’s my fault he was taken in the first place.” 

“What are you-“ Shiro froze when he saw the photos on the table, and rushed forward, grabbing some of them and bringing them up to examine them. “Where did you- How-?” 

“Perhaps we should start from the beginning, the very beginning,” Allura suggested, hands clasped tightly in front of her.

Keith took a deep breath and released it, raising his eyes to look at Shiro, who stood with his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. “I’m Spiderman.” His eyebrow and mouth twitched, but Shiro kept it together. “I was bitten by a radioactive spider while interning here, and it gave me these abilities. I’m not in any danger from this; Pidge, Hunk, and Allura all ran vigorous tests to ensure that.”

Shiro breathed in deeply through his nose. “Keith. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I- I was-“ Keith sighed, not even sure of the answer himself. “I didn’t want you to freak out on me, and you already had so much on your plate. I didn’t need you worrying, I could handle myself.” He couldn’t look Shiro in the eye anymore, fixing onto his shoelaces.

“So you kept this from me! Keith, you risk your life every night, of course you’re in danger. And I should know, I’m on the streets every night as well!” Shiro’s voice steadily rose.

“Exactly! I’m not doing anything different than what you do, and I have special abilities!” Keith cried back.

“That’s not the point, Keith! What if something had happened to you? What then?”

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you! I know the risks, Shiro! But I’m doing it so nobody else has to get hurt! So no one else has to go through what we’ve gone through with mom!” Keith’s dam finally broke, he was glaring at Shiro, his hands in fists. His chest was heaving, and he felt like his throat was closing. “I need some air.”

He didn’t dare look at anyone’s faces as he exited the room, he didn’t need to see their pity or their shock. He walked to the end of the hall and out onto a balcony, gripping the railing as he counted his breaths and focused on the cool air blowing through his hair. He sighed and leaned against the railing watching the cars weave down below. When he heard the door open, he knew exactly who it was.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro whispered, leaning on the railing beside Keith.

“I’m sorry too. I should have told you, and I wanted to, really, I just didn’t know how, you know? Oh, hey Shiro, you know that Spider-guy, yeah that’s me!” 

Shiro chuckled. “I see your point.”

“And I’m sorry I blew up at you. I’ve just- it’s just been- there’s a lot going on right now. Lance is missing, Galra Co. is doing something sketchy, we just can’t figure out what exactly, and then you finding out- it’s just been bad timing.”

“I know. I may not agree with the decisions you’ve made, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support you. I’m here for you, Keith, and we’re going to get Lance back. But you need to fill me in on everything you know first.”

“Of course.” Keith nodded, and Shiro clapped a hand on his shoulder, then pulled him in for a hug.

They walked back to the lab, and when they entered Shiro clapped his hands. “Alright, let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game is on.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is determined to find Lance, but learns he can't rush into things headfirst, no matter how much he wants to. Some shallura in this chapter, but super brief so if you don't ship it it's not painful! Enjoy!

Lance slowly came to, groaning as he felt the throb of his body, his muscles numb and sluggish when he tried to move. The sensation of being shocked was also present, the buzz vibrating through his body. He opened his eyes, immediately shutting them with a gasp when the harsh light pierced them. Where was he? What happened?

His mind was running wild, frantically trying to dig up the information to those questions, but it was just as sluggish as his muscles, and Lance soon gave up. He decided to just rest some more, yeah that’s what he needed, and when he woke again everything would be fine. Maybe this was just a dream? A goofy smile stretched across Lance’s face at that thought, and he stopped fighting, letting his mind drift away.

 

He jerked upright as a painful shock raced through him, his body snapping to attention, unlike the last time he had woken up. His mind was clear once more, and he glared at the source of his shock. Lotor stood before him, a long stick buzzing with electricity grasped in one hand. Lance’s lips curled in a snarl, and Lotor’s curled in a smile.

“Feisty,” he chuckled. “McClain, if I knew you could be like this sooner, I might have taken interest in you earlier.” Lance only narrowed his eyes and continued to snarl. 

“Anyways, I’m off to see your boyfriend.” Lance faltered, eyes widening. “Yes, he’s looking for you. I gave him the pictures from our little photoshoot, and then some.”

“Why would you do that? What are you planning?” Lance growled, voice raspy from disuse. “Why do you need me? I’m nobody important.”

“No, you’re not. But, you are important to one person, and I need to get to that one person.” Lance narrowed his eyes, and Lotor smiled back, sending chills down his spine.

“Acxa will take care of you until I get back.” Then Lotor turned on his heels and padded down the hall, away from Lance’s holding cell. Acxa appeared in his place, glaring down at Lance, an electric stick held in her hand as well.

 

Keith was back on the roof of Galra Co., and he’d been there for almost an hour now, growing more frustrated by the minute. He paced, waiting for the Green Galra to show himself, hoping he would. He clenched his fists and growled, images of what they could be doing to Lance filtering in. What if they turn him into an experiment? Keith shouted and punched the vent, denting its metal. This was all his fault and he had to make it right.

A low chuckling sent him spinning around, and there he was- the Green Galra- hovering just off the lip of the building, arms crossed behind his back as he stared at Keith with that hideous smile.

“Where is he?” Keith roared, rushing at him, but a small explosion at his feet halted his advance.

“Impatient, are we.” He guided the hoverboard to the edge and stepped off, onto the roof in front of Keith.

Keith watched him warily, poised to defend himself if need be. He wanted to help Lance, but he won’t be able to if he’s dead, or seriously injured. The Green Galra circled him nonchalantly, and Keith remained frozen, relying on his senses to warn him. 

“Why are you here?” The Green Galra spoke with a toying tone.

Keith kept his anger in check, knowing that’s he wanted him to blow up. “You know what. The pictures!”

“Oh, you figured it out then?”

“That you’re the one who took Lance, yeah! That was pretty obvious!” Keith retorted.

The Green Galra stood in front of him now, hands still clasped behind his back. His dark eyes were glinting as he stared at Keith.

“Pity.”

“What?” Keith growled, patience wearing thin.

“I gave you everything you needed to stop me, but you have fallen short, young hero.” 

Keith’s mind whirled as he processed the words, not understanding. “What are you talking about?”

“You can kiss your city goodbye!” The Green Galra cackled, and Keith lunged.

He stepped forwards to swing at the Galra’s chin, but they easily side stepped it, then evaded every other attack Keith threw at him, his movements fluid as he spun around Keith.

“Well, this was just as enthralling as last time, but I must be on my way. I’ve got a schedule to keep to.” A with that he ducked one last punch, rolling backwards and then lightly stepping onto his hoverboard.

Keith shot numerous webs at the hoverboard, pulling taught as the Green Galra began to fly away. His feet skidded across the roof until he hit the ledge, which he used as leverage. Keith gritted his teeth, willing his muscles to pull harder; he couldn’t let this guy skip out again without getting answers. Suddenly, the line went slack, and Keith fell on his back. He looked up to see the Green Galra over him, snarling and plucking one of the spheres off his belt. He clicked a button on it and it started beeping, purple light pulsing from it. He threw it at Keith, who quickly rolled backwards, jumping away as an explosion went off where he was previously laying. However, it wasn’t powerful enough to destroy the concrete of the roof, only scorching it.

“You want to play? Fine.” The Green Galra growled, plucking the throwing knives off his belt next.

Keith dodged the knives, flipping over them and twisting to avoid getting cut, but now he was backed against the door that allowed access o the roof. His spider-sense screamed at him, and he jerked his head to the side as a blade sunk into the door behind him. While it might have missed his head, the blade had managed to hit his shoulder, cutting the threads of his suit and the skin underneath. Keith grimaced, but it was a mere papercut compared to what he’s gotten before.

He focused back on the Green Galra, who was staring steadily at him, arms motionless by his sides. Keith stared at him curiously, awaiting his next move, and taking a cautious step forward. Then the door behind Keith slammed open, as if it had been kicked, and it caught him in the back. He stumbled, wincing, but it did no real damage- he’d have a huge bruise there tomorrow, though. 

Keith spun around, finding the experiment from the bridge emerging with a cruel grin. Then a blur flew past her, knocking Keith to the ground, and when he leapt up a girl with pink hair stood smirking at him.

“Zethrid and Ezor here like to play with their food,” the Green Galra spoke from above Keith. “And you’re their next meal! Have fun girls!” 

Keith growled as he watched the Green Galra fly away, pinned in place between both Ezor and Zethrid. Keith stood poised, eyes flicking from one to the other, fingers twitching. His senses screamed at him and he dodged Ezor, who flashed by him, but she was on him again before he could react. She landed a hit on his chest, knocking him backwards. Keith growled in frustration, of course he should have known the Galra would make his goons fight for him. But before he could dart forward, large arms wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms against his body and disrupting the flow of air into his lungs.

Keith struggled in the grip but was growing weaker by the second. Zethrid chuckled, he could feel it against his back, and Keith’s mouth worked as he tried to breathe. Ezor darted to the opposite side of the roof and took up a position one might if they were running a track race, and Keith knew what they were planning. He wriggled his arm, twisting his wrist for the right angle, and when Ezor leapt forwards, he shot his web. It hit its mark, covering Ezor’s face, who yelped, effectively blinding her. She faltered and slammed into Zethrid and Keith still running at full-speed, sending them sprawling.

Zethrid’s arms released Keith, who gasped for air and quickly leapt out of range of the two women. He knew what he had to do but didn’t like it, not one bit. But Shiro would have his head if he got himself hurt doing something desperate, which was going to happen if he stuck around. He was outmatched and outgunned and would accomplish nothing else by staying. His chest grew heavy at the thought of leaving Lance behind with them, but he still didn’t know where Lance was exactly or what else the Green Galra had up his sleeve. It would be reckless to go after Lance now, a shot in the dark, a shot Keith can’t afford to take just yet.

Soon, Lance, he thought, then jumped off the ledge, swinging back towards HQ.

He tugged his mask off as he trudged into the lab, his muscles already tightening and his body beginning to ache. Only Allura and Shiro remained, huddled together as they studied the photographs still sprawled across the table; Hunk and Pidge had headed home seeing as they all had school tomorrow and it was the wee hours of the morning. The door clicked closed, and Allura and Shiro’s heads raised at the noise and Shiro immediately rushed over, checking to make sure Keith was okay. His eyes zeroed in on the cut on his shoulder.

“I’m fine. Well, fine physically.” Keith grumbled. “I didn’t get any more leads on Lance. The Green Galra showed up and his goons jumped me, and I was outmatched. I had to run away.” Keith’s throat closed in on itself, making his voice crack on the last couple of words.

“Keith,” Allura said softly, stepping forward and grabbing Keith’s hands in hers. “We’ll find him. I promise you. But you made the right decision, you need to take care of yourself if you’re going to save Lance.”

“Let’s head home, get some rest. I’m going to take these photographs to the station tomorrow.” Shiro spoke up, placing a gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

“What will you tell them?” Keith asked.

“That they were submitted anonymously.” And Keith nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Now let’s get you home, you look like your about to fall asleep on your feet. And that wound needs cleaning.”

“I’ll go change.” Keith yawned, trudging out of the room and grabbing his backpack on his way out.

“You should get some rest too, Allura.” Shiro said, smiling at Allura.

Allura nodded, then smiled. “You’ve got a good boy on your hands.” 

“I sure do, but he’s also a huge pain in my ass.” Shiro chuckled, watching Keith leave the room.

“Don’t worry about it him, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He might be impulsive at times, but that’s only because he cares.”

“I know, but I can’t help but worry. He’s all I have left.” Shiro whispered.

Allura placed a hand on his arm, giving it gentle squeeze. His eyes found hers, and they stared at each other. She carefully and slowly leaned in, giving him a chance to stop her, but met no resistance until her lips met his. It was short and sweet, and her cheeks were on fire when she pulled away. 

“Shiro, I’m sorry! I don’t know what-“ She was cut off by another kiss, this one deeper as Shiro pulled her against him.

She gasped, but melted into it, sighing as Shiro’s lips moved from hers to trail down her neck, backing her up until she hit the table. His hands clutched either side of her head, and her hands were gripping his shoulders. 

“Shiro,” she breathed, and he kissed her harder.

The sound of the door drove them apart, like they had been shocked suddenly. Allura tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, biting her lips as she turned around to collect the photos, and to also hide her maddening blush. Shiro cleared his throat, a hand running through his hair as he ducked his head, his own cheeks burning. When he recovered, he walked over to Keith, who was oblivious to what had been happening, busy stuffing his suit in his backpack, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Ready, bud?” His voice cracked, so he cleared it again.

“Don’t call me bud, you sound like a dad.” Keith grumbled.

“Don’t talk to your father with that tone, young man!” Shiro exaggerated, and Keith smirked, rolling his eyes.

“Let’s just go.” He turned and left the room as Shiro grabbed the photos from Allura, purposely letting his hand linger a tad longer than normal, his smile brilliant as he met her eyes. He muttered a ‘thanks’ before following Keith out of the room.

When Shiro and Keith entered their apartment, Keith immediately groaned, falling onto the couch face first. He felt the cushion dip under Shiro’s weight, and he turned his head to see Shiro holding a rag and peroxide. He pushed Keith over to access his injured shoulder more easily, and Keith didn’t fight back, too tired and aching to care.  
Shiro cleaned it quickly and gently, and Keith was thankful for the silence, thankful for Shiro, and let his eyes drift close. Shiro smiled down on his brother, face peaceful as he slept, and he couldn’t stop himself from brushing aside Keith’s bangs. He didn’t even stir. Shiro sighed, setting down the cleaning materials. Keith was going to be the death of him, but it only made him love him even more for some reason. He carefully slipped his arms underneath Keith’s body, then deposited him in his bed, pulling the blankets up over him. The last thing he did before leaving the room was turn off Keith’s alarm, set to go off in three hours. Keith was not going to school tomorrow.

 

Lance struggled against his restraints, eyes flicking back and forth as he tried to see what was going on around him since he couldn’t move his head. The leather straps were irritating his skin with each of his movements, but that didn’t stop him from trying to get free. His heart was in his throat, his pulse erratic, as figures flitted around his peripheral vision. 

Finally, someone stepped in front of him; Acxa stood there with a pad, studying the logistics on its screen. She glanced up at Lance occasionally, but never said anything; it only made Lance squirm more. 

“Alright, Narti,” she finally spoke up, looking behind Lance. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Lance glowered at her, and her eyes flicked to his, a small, but smug, smile gracing her lips. But his view of her was blocked by Narti, who leaned over him with two wires in her hands.

“Hey! Don’t touch me!” Lance returned to struggling, but Narti remained silent.

She stuck pads onto both of his wrists, and then two on his forehead and chest.

“Readings are online.” Acxa announced, tapping on her screen. “Administer the first dose.”

Narti produced a needle, a liquid glowing the same unnerving purple inside, and Lance gulped, more frantically pulling on his restraints.

“Woah, hold on. Stop! Don’t come any closer! Get away from me!” Lance yelled in a panic, but Narti didn’t stop advancing.

“Your protests won’t save you.” Acxa called. “The less you struggle, the less painful it will be.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Good, so you’ve learned something.”

Then Lance felt a prick in his neck and a searing heat spread through his body. His muscles clenched, and his mouth hung open in a silent scream. He closed his eyes as his head swam, the heat becoming more intense with each passing second. He’d never felt anything like this, never wanted to ever again. He didn’t know how much time passed until he heard a voice again.

“Administer the second dose.” The words rang in his head, but they didn’t stick, just floated past as Lance’s head filled with hazy thoughts about his family, about whether anyone had noticed he was gone yet, about Spiderman. Where was Spiderman? And that’s where they hung until another wave of searing heat flushed through his body.

This time Lance did scream. His body felt numb, his muscles unresponsive and nerves fried. He laid limply against the chair, letting the dark spots in his vision coalesce until he only saw black. Then he let his mind go, losing hold of consciousness. 

 

“Lance,” a soft voice filtered through the darkness. “Lance, wake up.”

Lance groaned, blinking the exhaustion from his eyes; red filled his vision, and he felt hands gripping either side of his face. Lance smiled lazily, eyes fluttering closed once more.

“Lance!”

Lance’s eyes flew open as he registered who was calling his name. Spiderman was standing right in front of him, his hands falling from Lance’s face to his wrists. Lance almost cried from joy, and he quickly sat up. Wait, sat up? He wasn’t restrained anymore? He glanced around his surroundings, finding him on top of his own roof.

“What- how?” 

“I saved you. Lance, I finally saved you.” Spiderman said, pulling him into a crushing hug.

Lance reveled in the way his arms felt, the way his body fit against Lance’s. He gripped him just as tight, never wanting to let go, never wanting to be let go. Then Spiderman’s hand found his chin, tipping it up- up?- as his other hand pulled up his mask to reveal soft lips. Lance gasped as their lips met, and his mind went blank. He missed this, missed him. They moved together, hands roaming as a new kind of heat swept over Lance.

Then suddenly they were falling on a bed. Lance’s bed, how they got there Lance didn’t care, he just wanted more. Spiderman was looking down on him, lips twisted in a smirk. Lance’s hands snaked around his neck, pulling him down. Spiderman’s lips found Lance’s neck, trailing kisses up its curve, and then found his pulse, sucking at it. Lance moaned, fingernail digging into the fabric of his suit. He pulled at it and found that it moved. Lance ripped it off his head, hands finding Spiderman’s face and pulling him back from the crook of his neck, eager to see his whole face.

Lance’s heart froze. Staring back at him was a cruel smile, glittering black eyes, and white hair that tickled his nose. Lotor. Lance choked, pushing the man off of him, and scrambling to the corner of his bed. His hands shook as he reached up, clutching his hair. What was going on? What was happening? 

Then the room blurred, Lotor fading out first and then everything else, replaced with only darkness. Lance screamed as it came towards him, but no sound met his ears. He was quickly overtaken, and his mind was plunged into darkness once more.

He gasped and jerked awake, eyes frantically scanning his surroundings as his chest heaved. He was back in his holding cell beneath Galra Co. It had only been a nightmare, thank god. Lance felt his weariness seep back into his bones, and he laid back down on the cold ground, a couple of tears dripping from the corner of his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, guys, i'm so evil. I hate myself for making Lance dream that, but I also love myself for it! Hope you liked this chapter, and the story so far! I'm always up for a chat, or hearing any suggestions you guys have!  
> Also, my tumblr is the same username (imyourCardiganAngel) as AO3, so feel free to come chat there too, but i'm fairly new and my tumblr is pretty lame haha!  
> But uh oh, the story is really heating up now! What's going to happen with Lance?


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Hunk decide to put their detective skills to test, which means more Coran! Some more action, and we find out what happened to Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darlings, i'm home! Sorry for the long silence, but i've been so busy and not feeling 100%, but I wanted to give you guys something! Lots of thanks to all who read this, i'm so glad to hear you guys like the story so far!

Pidge and Hunk sat quietly as they ate lunch, thoughts lingering on Keith, who wasn’t at school today. They’re both apprehensive, imaginations creating horrible scenarios, but sending a text to him and receiving a curt reply around noon settled their anxiety. 

“You think Keith’s alright?” Hunk asked tentatively. “I mean, I know he said he was, but I think he’s burning himself up, and I’m just worried-“

Pidge waved a hand, halting his anxious rant. “Of course, he is! He’s Keith!”

“I know, but this whole Lance thing has him pushing himself a little too hard, you know?” Hunk continued, pushing his food around on his plate with a grimace. “And I’m worried about Lance too, and I wish I could help Keith-“

“Maybe we can,” Pidge cut Hunk off again, who’s gaze immediately snapped to her.

“Pidge, I’m not going to let you recreate Keith’s origin story on us-“

“Not what I’m talking about, though that is plan B-“

“Pidge!”

“Kidding, back to what I was saying. We may not have spider powers, but we can do some mundane investigation! Keith said Lance works at Coran Chronicles, so what if we swing by and see if anyone noticed anything unusual before Lance was kidnapped?”

Hunk mulled this over for a moment, then smiled. “Sounds like a plan!” 

 

Pidge and Hunk stepped inside Coran Chronicles, mouths dropping at the grandeur of it all. It was very much art deco inspired, lots of gold and black topped off with a red carpet leading from the double doors to the reception desk, where a blonde woman with thick black glasses sat. They politely stepped up to her, and she didn’t glance up as Hunk cleared his throat. Pidge couldn’t even see over the desk, so she let Hunk handle this, not about to lose her dignity by hopping to peer over.

“Hi,” Hunk smiled sweetly, leaning on the desk. “I was wondering if Coran was around.”

The girl, Nyma according to her nametag, lifted one hand from where it was typing furiously, and pressed a button on the phone beside her.

“Y’ello?” An enthusiastic voice rang out.

“There’s a couple of kids here to see you,” Nyma muttered, still not looking away from her computer.

“Oh! Send them up!” Coran exclaimed.

Pidge and Hunk scowled at being called ‘kids’ but didn’t argue. Nyma muttered ‘floor 5’ so they didn’t hesitate to climb into the elevator. The ping announced their arrival, and the doors slid open to reveal a man stroking his very orange mustache. He wore a striped blue button up, khaki pants and navy suspenders and bowtie, and while it was quirky, it seemed to fit him perfectly.

“Welcome to Coran Chronicles!” He spoke just as enthusiastically as he had on the phone, only now it was less shrill. 

Pidge and Hunk slowly stepped out of the elevator, glancing around at the mostly quiet room. 

“Uh, thanks. We’re here to ask some question about an employee of yours. Lance?” Pidge spoke up, watching as Coran grew solemn.

“Yes, I heard what happened. I hope the police find him soon! I’m quite worried for him myself, wish there was something I could do.”

“Well, you’d be helping us help him if you answer some questions we have,” Hunk said gently, an encouraging smile on his face.

Coran perked up. “Certainly! He’s my favorite employee, like a son I never had, and I will answer any question I can within legal parameters! To my office!” And then he spun around and marched towards his office, Pidge and Hunk hurriedly following.

Once they were seated in two very uncomfortable seats before Coran, who had made himself comfortable, feet atop his desk, one hand smoothing his mustache while the other twirled a pencil, they began their inquiries. Hunk acted as scribe- his handwriting was the best, Pidge’s was chicken scratch- and Pidge asked their questions in rapid-fire succession, though Coran didn’t seem bothered, his enthusiasm never waning. He answered every question thoughtfully and truthfully, supplying them with a couple things they didn’t already know. After concluding the interview, Pidge and Hunk wandered around to ask some of the other employees if they’d seen anything suspicious, with Coran’s permission of course. The man followed them around curiously, always peering over their shoulder and offering a wide smile every time Pidge or Hunk glanced at him. They quickly found that for a bunch of reporters, they sure were unobservant, and no new or interesting information was given to them.

When they arrived back to the lab, they found Keith and Shiro already there, conversing quietly with Allura. All three turned as Pidge and Hunk entered the room.

“Where have you guys been?” Allura said, hands on her hips, though a smile was tugging at her lips.

“We were playing detective,” Pidge answered, snatching their notes from Hunk’s hands.

“Well, we felt like there was more we could do to help, so we visited Coran and asked him a few questions to try and get some more information on Lotor.” Hunk added shyly.

“And?” Keith was looking at them expectantly, hopeful even.

“We’ve got a couple things.” Pidge answered.

“That’s great! Hit us, Pidge,” Allura clapped her hands, eyes sparkling.

“Okay, so apparently Lance and Lotor are the best writers at Coran Chronicles, so of course they had a rivalry going.”

“So, he kidnapped him?” Keith scoffed.

“I’m not finished. Lotor knew Lance was writing about Spiderman, and seeing that we know he’s the Green Galra, we can see why this would peak his interest. He must have shadowed Lance without him knowing, and found out you guys were coordinating.”

“So, what does he want with Lance? Why not just go after Keith immediately? He’s had his chances.” Shiro asked, eyebrows scrunched, and arms crossed as he leaned against the table, looking thoughtful.

“We don’t have anything decisive. But remember when Lance was asking us about Galra Co.?” Keith nodded solemnly. “Hunk and I think he sniffed Lotor out and discovered something about Galra Co. that Lotor doesn’t want to get out.

“What does Lotor want to keep secret?” Allura chimed in.

“Remember that purple crystal in the pictures Lotor gave us?” Nods all around. “Well, Coran told us that Lotor was writing his story on something called quintessence and how it effects people, specifically for medicinal purposes. Sound familiar? Hunk and I believe this quintessence is our mystery element.”

“It does make sense,” Shiro muttered, a hand raised in thought.

“So, why does he want to get to me?” Keith spoke up.

Pidge shrugged. “Maybe he sees you as the biggest threat, the only one who could stop whatever plans he has. Sorry, you’re going to have to ask him yourself.”

“He could just really hate spiders!” Hunk offered with a wry smile. 

“Point is, you need to be more careful.” Shiro straightened, shooting Keith a worried glance.

“Not this again, Shiro! You already lectured me on the way here!” Keith rolled his eyes, exasperated. 

“We don’t know what Lotor’s planning, and we don’t know why he’s targeting you! He obviously knows something we don’t!” Shiro countered.

“We don’t need to know because I’m going to stop him before he can even start, and I’m going to get Lance back too!”

“I know! But just be on your toes!”

Their voices were steadily rising, and they were gradually getting closer. Allura cautiously stepped between them, a kind smile on her face.

“Everything’s going to be fine. Keith, I have faith you will stop Lotor, and of course Shiro is right in saying we need to be on our toes at all times. But what you both are forgetting is that we are a team, and no one is in this alone. We all have each other’s backs!”

“Yeah, I was thinking that Shiro could help us out by patrolling the streets and reporting back to us and to you, Keith, who will patrol the air. We’ve got this city covered, nothing can slip past us!” Pidge said excitedly.

The tension in the room melted, and everyone set to work to prepare for the night.

 

Apparently, Pidge was wrong. Something could slip past them. And that something ended up smashing the hood of Shiro’s cop car. Luckily, Keith was only a block away and heard the clash before Pidge was buzzing in his ear, explaining the situation. He growled when he saw Zethrid looming over the smashed car, Shiro using it as a barrier between them, gun raised. A flash of pink caught his eye then, and he reacted quickly- he had to to match her pace- and swung feet first into the speedster, knocking her off course, which was set for Shiro. Shiro glanced at him in surprise, which quickly morphed into gratefulness. He nodded at Keith, giving him the go ahead and silently telling him he’s got his back. 

“Back so soon?” Keith called out, catching the two experiments attention. “As much as I enjoy our meetings, I need to talk to the boss.”

“That can be arranged.” Ezor smirked, eyes flicking to something over Keith’s shoulder.

And then Keith was being snatched up before he could even react, and Shiro’s police car was rapidly shrinking. His eyes met that of the Green Galra’s through his mask.  
“You called?” He said in a tone that matched his mask’s twisted smile.

Keith shot a web at him, forcing him to let go of his arm, and swung up onto the board with him. The Green Galra growled as he ripped off the webs on his mask and faced Keith.

“You really should have seen that coming,” Keith shrugged.

With a roar the Galra lunged for Keith, making the board tilt that way too, but Keith slipped under him, ending up behind the Galra.

“Why are you so obsessed with me?” He whispered in his opponent’s ear.

He dodged a fist coming towards his face and slipped back under his arm as the Galra twisted around. Keith smirked at the growing frustration on his face.

“You are the only thing left for me to destroy!” The Galra roared.

Keith cocked his head, letting him continue to rant.

“You are a result of my father’s experiments, no matter how accidental, he still created you; therefore, you must be destroyed.” Then suddenly, he lunged, blades appearing like nails on his gloves and Keith let himself fall backwards, off the hoverboard. 

Keith shot out a web, swinging back onto the board, kicking the Galra’s back in the process. The Green Galra stumbled forward, and the board lurched with his movement, its wing running straight into the side of a building. Keith groaned, shooting a web on the Galra’s back to pull him back center. The board stabilized, but they were sent into a spin now that a wing was missing. Great.

Momentarily distracted by their descent, Keith was suddenly kicked in the chest, sending him flying backwards; however, the web that was still attached to the Green Galra pulled taught and he was dragged behind the board as the Green Galra righted it. He clutched at the web, trying to stop his head from spinning and focus his vision. When he did, he saw the Galra jerk the web to the side, and his body had no choice but to follow. He rammed into the side of a building, clenching his jaw as he felt some ribs crack and his shoulder protest. He shielded his face as best he could with his arm, but he had been caught off guard. And then he was jerked in the opposite direction, the other half of his body assaulted next. Keith growled and managed to shoot another web onto the bottom of the hoverboard, pulling himself away from the side of the building. Then he detached himself from the web Green Galra had ahold of. But before he could swing himself back onto the board, his web was cut, and he was falling. 

He yelped in surprise, and flailed as the ground grew closer. He’d never get used to this weightless feeling when falling, that moment in time when your mind blanks and your stomach floats, heart in your throat, and the next moment when everything seems to snap back into place. Keith focused his mind, trying to think of a way to slow himself down; sticking to the side of a building would only slam him into its side, and he’s had enough of that. His best bet is to use a street light or something of the likes to launch himself back into an arc to dispel the momentum he was currently gaining. So that’s what he did. His eyes locked onto a flag pole extending horizontally from a building, and he shot a web at it. He continued to fall towards the pavement until the web grew taught, and he swung like a pendulum, until he was rising once more, then back, then forth, until he was just hanging. He was breathing heavily, his heartbeat in his ears, and he glanced around for the Green Galra, but saw no sign of him. He growled and reached for the side of the building, crawling until his feet were on solid ground.

Once he was hidden in the shadows of an alley, he sighed as his limbs grew heavy as his adrenaline receded. He leaned heavily against a brick wall, his eyes checking himself for injury. He found nothing serious, his suit was torn in some places, the cuts stinging, and his chest ached with each breath. He reached a hand up to his face, finding a couple small tears in his mask, mainly on the left side of his face, but none too compromising. He felt weariness begin to take over, but he shook it off.

“Keith? Where are you?” Keith flinched as Pidge’s voice crackled to life in his ear.

“Um, not sure right now. But I am on the ground.” He chuckled dryly, twinging at the ache it caused in his chest.

“Oh thank god, Shiro said the Green Galra had grabbed you and flew high into the air, and you’re not equipped for that, and you didn’t check in-“

“Pidge, I’m fine. I’ll tell you where I am right now.” Keith peaked out of the alleyway and took notice of the street signs, relating his location to Pidge, who immediately calmed down.

“Is Shiro okay?” Keith asked as memory of the stand-off with Ezor and Zethrid came back to him.

“Yeah, yeah. He said after you disappeared, they did too, not even bothering with him.”

“Huh,” Keith huffed; he was currently climbing up a fire escape to get back up top. 

“Yeah, it’s like they only want you.”

“That reminds me. Lotor told me why he hates my guts.” Pidge snorted, and he continued, “It’s because his father was involved with whatever happened to that spider that bit me. From what he said, it sounded like he’s trying to destroy everything his father has touched.” Keith snorted, realizing how ridiculous that sounded just now. What, was he going to destroy all of New York City? ‘Cause his father is all over this city.

Keith froze, feeling like the breath was suddenly knocked from him.

“Uh, Pidge. I think I just realized what Lotor is planning.”

“This doesn’t sound good. Go on.” Pidge said warily.

“He’s going to try and destroy New York. It’s his father’s city, the place Zarkon made his name, is making his name. Galra Co. is one of the city’s leading companies, and without New York, it would crumble.”

“Damn. I hate how plausible that sounds. Fits Lotor’s sociopathic qualities, that’s for sure.” Pidge grumbled. “We need to figure out how he’s planning on doing that if we want to stop it though.”

“Yeah. Talk to the others and start brainstorming based on what we have so far. I’m on my way back now.” Keith swung off into the night, letting the wind blow away his tension, if only for a moment.

Then suddenly his spider sense was screaming at him, and he snapped his eyes open. A hand wrapped around his ankle, and he was jerked backwards and into the ground. He felt the air rush from his lungs and cringed at the sharp pain in his ribs. He pushed himself up, panting, and watched a pink blur circle him; Zethrid was standing with her arms crossed a little further away. He waited, his body feeling too sluggish to attack. He blinked and was suddenly pressed against a car, the cool metal a relief to his stinging body, and Ezor was in his face, smiling. She flicked out a blade, holding it close to his face.

“Boss isn’t finished with you, and he’s pretty pissed you wrecked his favorite hoverboard.” She giggled. Then she cocked her head, eyes trailing over his mask, blade pressed to his cheek. “Wonder what color your eyes are?”

 

Lance groaned as his eyes fluttered open; he felt like he was hit by a truck, limbs heavy and numb. He groaned again, lifting a hand to scrub at his face, through his hair. He blinked the sleep from his eyes but squinted when he thought he saw his hand glowing. It’s never done that before.

Lance sat up, vision still blurry and he willed it to focus, luckily it listened to him. He gasped when he saw his hand was in fact glowing a cold blue. A ribbon of the same blue trailed up his arm, and when he rolled up his sleeve he saw it continued to wrap all the way up. He leapt to his feet, tearing off his shirt and saw it around his shoulders, as well as his torso and back. His other arm was in the same state, mirroring it exactly, and now that he looked at the lines more closely, they seemed to have a pattern, a rhythm, that danced across his body symmetrically. 

Lance felt lightheaded, and he took a couple steadying breaths, but saw them come out in white puffs. He shivered and began to question if Lotor had turned down the heat. He used the wall to steady himself, gasping when ice fanned out under his touch, jerking his hand back. He hesitantly put his hand on a different spot on the wall and the same thing happened.

“What the-“

“Good, you’re awake,” Lance jerked ramrod straight at the voice, and spun around to find Acxa standing in the doorway. “Lotor wants you.”

“What did you do to me?” Lance growled, hands held close to his chest.

Acxa’s eyes roamed over his body nonchalantly, then her gaze snapped back to Lance’s, narrowing slightly. “As much as I think Lotor would enjoy seeing you shirtless, I suggest you put your shirt back on.” Then she turned her back, walking down the hallway. She snapped her fingers for him to follow.

Lance growled, grabbing his shirt and shoving his arms through, then stepped outside, and melted, reveling in the difference in temperature. He glanced behind him, and, yep, there was Narti, trailing him like she was his shadow. She was so quiet it was simultaneously eerie and impressive.

He followed them back into the main room, and when he saw the chair he had been previously strapped to he flinched, stopping in his tracks, but he was pushed onwards by Narti. Lotor was talking to someone, probably Ezor or Zethrid, but his chuckling always sent chills through his body. 

He froze once more when he saw who Lotor was actually talking to- Spiderman. Spiderman was glaring at Lotor, who had him strung up, hands tied above his head. He looked pretty beat up, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, numerous tears decorating his suit, and his mask- Lance gasped when he saw an eye, his actual eye, and a corner of his lips. He’d never seen under the mask, and it felt like he was intruding, so he quickly redirected his gaze to his feet. 

“Ah, Lance!” His gaze was drawn back up at the sound of Lotor’s voice. “How nice of you to join us!”

“Like I had a choice,” he growled, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from flicking over to Spiderman, momentarily melting when their eyes connected, before shutting away his weaknesses. 

Lotor chuckled, and Lance turned his glare back on him. “I brought you a friend, but I think you guys are already acquainted.”

Lance kept silent, his eyes as icy as his insides currently felt. 

“Everything is coming together!” Lotor shouted in triumph. “No one stands in my way now.”

He turned to Spiderman with a smirk, and they shared a look.

“Now that’s all that left is what to do with you.”

Spiderman didn’t flinch, keeping his gaze steady with Lotor’s, and Lance even saw the corner of his lips lift in a snarl. 

“But I’ll save that for later.” Lotor waved a hand in dismissal, and Lance relaxed; he hadn’t noticed how tense he had been.

Lance stepped forward towards, but an arm at his elbow stopped him. He turned on the person, snarling. It was Narti, face still hidden in shadow.

“I just want to talk to him. What am I gonna do? Freeze him?”

He turned around in time to see Lotor nod at her, seemingly amused, and Lance stared smugly at Narti as she retracted her hand. He rushed over to Spiderman’s side, an easy smile spreading across his face. He took him in, and while he looked a little battered, it was still the same man he has become so familiar with. He reached out a hand to touch his face, but quickly pulled it back, not wanting the incident with the wall to be repeated. 

“I’m sorry,” Spiderman rasped, and Lance’s eyes found his, focusing specifically on the exposed one, and the deep blue and purple and black that swirled in their depths, like the New York sky. There were a couple cuts around it, like he had been knicked by a knife. 

“For what?” He was smiling again. Lance couldn’t help it, he was just feeling a new-found happiness being this close to Spiderman once again, like a fire was spreading through his frozen veins.

“For failing you. I should have been able to save you.”

“So, you’re giving up?” At that, Spiderman’s head jerked up, eyes finally meeting his. 

“No! Why would you-“

“See, so you haven’t failed me yet.” He pitched his voice low. “The fight’s not over.” He smiled and winked at Spiderman, surprised by how normal he felt right now. “Cause they made a big mistake. They let us get close.”

Then, before he even realized what he was doing, Lance reached up and grabbed the rope binding Spiderman’s hands, watching as ice curled up it. Spiderman’s eyes widened, but then he smirked, and brought his weight down, effectively snapping the rope. He rubbed his wrists, smirking at Lance, a new light in his eyes.

Then he grabbed Lance’s wrists and shoved him forwards, out of the way of Acxa’s swing. They tangled, but Spiderman quickly knocked her down with an uppercut to her jaw. Lance ran for the stairs, their exit, knowing Spiderman will follow soon enough, but Ezor got in his way. 

“Where ya going?” She asked in that giddy voice of hers, which Lance would find cute if she wasn’t standing between him and his freedom.

She lunged at him, but he caught her wrist, willing all the coldness he felt inside of him into her body. She gasped, eyes wide, and when Lance let her go she glared at him, smirk back on her face.

“That the best you got?” 

But when she made to zip around him, she found herself unable to.

Lance wigged his fingers and smirked. “Didn’t you take chemistry in high school? Cold and fast don’t mix!”

Then a hand at his shoulder moved him into motion once more, and he turned to find Spiderman leading him up the stairs. Lance took the lead, since he was the one who knew he way out and dove for the door. He twisted the knob, but a kick to his abdomen sent him flying against a wall. He ducked as a knife sliced where his head had been previously. Narti stood before him, a knife in either hand, but then she was gone, replaced by Spiderman. Spiderman had spun her away from Lance, taking up a stance in front of him.

They danced, her dodging his webs and punches, him her knives. Then he drop-kicked her into the railing, and she tumbled over, holding on for dear life. Lance seized the opportunity and threw open the door, calling for Spiderman as he did. Spiderman was at his side in a moment, and Lance slammed the door shut, freezing the knob in hopes it would slow down anyone who pursued them. 

Lance rushed down the hallway he remembered when he had snuck in, which lead to him realizing they’d have to sneak out as well because of two reasons. One, Lotor very well could have alerted security already, and two, he couldn’t just drag Spiderman out in the main entrance of Galra Co., which was probably swarming with workers if it was during the day. What time was it? Whatever, they couldn’t take any chances. He really hoped that bathroom window was still open.

He peaked out the hall, finding it clear- thank the gods- and rushed for the bathroom door. Luckily, Spiderman didn’t question him, only following close behind. He slammed the last stall closed and stood on top of the toilet, nearly shouting when he found the window was still open. He climbed out, blinking against the harsh light, then turned and reached a hand out to Spiderman, who he knew didn’t need it, but he took it anyway. He closed the window properly once they were both out.

He stood and found Spiderman already scaling a fire escape. Lance hopped up as well, not resting until he was on the roof of a building, breathing heavily, eyes still adjusting to the bright light. So, Lance had made the right choice. The spots in his vision faded, but his blood froze when he saw a trail of red, and he followed it to where Spiderman was standing across the roof.

“We need to put as much distance between us and them.” He muttered, and Lance just noticed his voice sounded different. A good difference though, it was softer. That’s not what was important though.

“Well, we’re not going to get very far with you bleeding like that!” Lance scolded, approaching him, eyes searching for the source.

“We don’t have time-“

“Shut your quiznak!” Lance snapped, eyes locking onto the slash across his stomach- he must have gotten it from Narti, Lance thought. 

Spiderman didn’t try and stop him when he reached for it, placing his hand over it as gently as he could. Spiderman only sucked in a breath, but nothing else. When Lance took his hand away the blood flow had slowed.

“That should stem the flow until we can get you patched up.” Lance said, hands still hovering over the injury. “I think I’m getting the hang of these powers!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop. I’m out, I’m feeling the sun on my skin, I’m alive. None of this is your fault, it’s Lotor’s so let’s focus on stopping him.” Spiderman nodded solemnly. 

Lance guided his face so their eyes met. Spiderman smirked. “Forgot how quick on your feet you are. You did great back there.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s because-“

“You’re a reporter, I know!” He laughed, then turned around. “Get on my back.”

“Uh, don’t have to ask me twice! Where are we going now?”

“My HQ. I’m probably going to get an earful when I get back.” Spiderman shook his head, and Lance could see him smirking. “Hold tight!”

And he leapt off the building with Lance screeching on his back, but the screaming quickly turned into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, i'm not 100% about this chapter, and wasn't feeling 100% when I wrote this, but I wanted to give you guys something, you've been waiting patiently! Don't hesitate to point out things that don't make sense! And of course, I always enjoy hearing how you're enjoying the story and if you have any suggestions!  
> Also, Lance is free now! About time am I right, I was missing him! But what about Keith, what other injuries is he hiding? Dang it Keith, take care of yourself! Sorry, I may or may not be referring to the season 4 finale. Most importantly, is team spiderman going to be able to stop Lotor?


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the moment you've all been waiting for. And some Klance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I gotta admit this is a filler chapter, but I don't think you'll be disappointed. I wanted the action to start in its own chapter, so be ready for that next chapter! Until then, enjoy!

Keith landed with a grunt on the roof of Altea Inc., his side slowly thawing, sending needles of discomfort up his spine. He carefully set Lance down, but Lance’s arms never left his waist. Keith turned and got an eyeful of blue. Lance was studying him closely, nose scrunched, and Keith glanced away, face heating at their closeness. Lance’s hands on his waist were suddenly burning. 

“I’m fine, or at least I will be once we get to the lab so Allura can stitch me up.” Keith waved off the concern Lance was radiating. “If Pidge doesn’t kill me first,” he then muttered to himself, walking towards the door that opened onto the staircase that would lead them to Allura’s lab. He was not looking forward to getting an earful.

“So, your HQ is Altea Inc.? Should have known.” Lance spoke up casually from behind. “They have the best tech, and you certainly couldn’t have made all those gadgets by yourself.”

Keith grunted, shooting a glare over his shoulder, and began climbing down the stairs. He moved slowly, each movement sending more pain radiating from his stomach, not to mention all the tiny cuts and bruises he got last night seemed to make themselves known. Even his muscles and bones creaked, stiffening with each movement. He kept a hand over the wound on his stomach, applying pressure because it was the only thing he could do. 

“Hey, man, let me help,” Lance appeared at his side, concern clear on his face once more, Keith wasn’t sure it ever left. 

He reached an arm around Keith, slinging Keith’s arm over his shoulders as well, easing some of the weight off Keith’s injured side. It still hurt like a bitch, but it’s the thought that counts. 

“Here,” Keith grunted, jabbing his chin at the door that would get them to the lab. “Then turn right. Room at the very end of the hall.”

Lance nodded, opening the door and guiding Keith through it, taking careful measures not to let the door hit any part of Keith, like he was fine china or something. Keith’s lips quirked.

“You know one of my powers is super-strength, right? I’m not gonna break. Besides, I’ve had worse.” Keith said nonchalantly, struggling to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards.

“Yeah, yeah, just let me take care of you.” Lance waved him off, tugging him down the hall.

As they approached the familiar glass room, Keith saw everyone was inside, and they were moving a bit frantically. The lab was a mess, coffee cups and papers strewn everywhere, Keith thought he even saw a mountain of Shiro’s protein bar wrappers spilling out of the trash can. Guilt sprouted in Keith’s chest; they had probably worn themselves ragged searching for him all night. 

“That your team?”

“Yeah, that’s them,” Keith said, not bothering to hide his fondness.

Just then, Pidge’s gaze locked onto Keith, and she slammed her hands on the table, screeching- they could hear it clearly outside the room. That got everyone’s attention, and they all simultaneously whipped their heads around, disbelief and relief cracking their worried expressions. Then they all simultaneously scrambled for the door. 

“Brace for impact,” Keith muttered, chuckling.

“Ke- Lance?!” Pidge was the first one out, her small size allowing her to slip between the people crowding the doorway.

She looked between the two, as if trying to decide who to hug first, but then Hunk came up behind her and made the decision for her. He dragged her into a group hug, big arms reaching around both Lance and Keith’s shoulders, crushing them. Keith let out a grunt as he was jostled and hoped they wouldn’t notice.

“You’re injured.” Of course, Pidge would notice. 

“Tis but a scratch,” Keith’s mouth quirked, and Pidge playfully punched his arm, rolling her eyes.

“Thank god,” then Keith was pulled into Shiro’s shoulder, but Shiro released him just as quickly, looking him up and down, eyes narrowing at the slice in his stomach. “That’s going to need stitches. Allura,”

“On it. Not my first rodeo!” Allura winked, giving Keith a gentle smile, and even gentler hug. “Glad to see you’re safe, both of you!” She flashed Lance a dazzling smile before turning to grab the first-aid kit.

“How many times has she stitched you up before?” Lance asked, eyebrows raising to his hairline. Shiro raised his eyebrows at Keith expectantly as well, awaiting the answer.

Keith coughed. “Uh, well, enough to know what she’s doing.” He shrugged, not meeting Shiro’s gaze.

“The first time she had to, she followed a youtube tutorial!” Pidge snorted, and Keith glared at her. “Now she’s a pro! Nothing to worry about.”

Shiro shot Keith a disapproving look, but said no more, opening the door and herding everyone inside the room with an outstretched arm. Hunk and Pidge dragged Lance over to their equipment, chatting excitedly about their recent tests and experiment. Shiro guided Keith over to a chair where Allura was waiting for him, medical supplies strewn out on the table beside her.

“What’s up doc?” Keith joked as he sat heavily into the chair.

“I’m hardly that kind of doctor. I only know how to do stitches thanks to you.” Allura retorted.

“Um, okay, I’m gonna- gonna leave for a bit cause I can’t- I can’t-“ Hunk started stuttering, staring at the medical supplies.

“We know buddy, you get queasy easily.” Lance spoke up, patting Hunk’s arm affectionately. “I’ll come find you once Keith is stitched up.”

Keith grunted, his exhaustion slowly leaking in his bones and weighing his limbs down, but all that shot away when Lance’s words rang through his head again. His head snapped towards Lance, as did everyone else’s as they seemed to realize what Lance had said as well.

“You little-“

“Language.” Shiro cut Keith off with a hand over his mouth, a small smile on his lips. “How’d you know?”

“Well, it was kind of obvious as soon as I saw all you guys. I mean, Keith’s best friends with Hunk and Pidge, and they all internship here at Altea Inc. Not to mention your radiating brotherly affection, Shiro.” Lance raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk stretching across his face. “Come on, I’m a reporter, my observation skills are-“

“Above average. I know.” Keith growled good-naturedly, tugging off his torn mask and pulling his suit down so Allura could reach his cut better.

“Ah, yup, that’s my cue to leave.” Hunk announced, rushing out the door.

Once Keith was stitched up, everyone seemed to relax, especially Shiro. Keith was currently slouched in a chair, chin resting on his chest as he slept. Lance still couldn’t believe Keith fell asleep while Allura was stitching him up! Lance actually wanted to follow his example right now, but with Keith no longer in the spotlight, that meant the attention swung to Lance. What happened? Was he alright? Did they do anything to him? All those basic questions that he had expected.

Lance answered their questions with a smile, easily deflecting questions that hit a little too close to something he didn’t want to dive into, but he knew he couldn’t avoid that one question.

“I kinda have…ice powers?” Lance said hesitantly, glancing down at his hands as if they would start shooting ice at his words. He looked back up to find all eyes wide with concern, disbelief, and awe. 

“No way! We gotta run some tests to get more information!” Pidge leaned forward excitedly, pushing their glasses further up their nose.

“Pidge,” Shiro cut in gently. “I think we should postpone those tests and let Lance get some much needed rest and relaxation. As well as everyone else.” 

Pidge sunk back in their chair sheepishly, offering Lance a lopsided smile. “Why do you always have to be right?” She smiled good-humoredly at Shiro, who gave a modest shrug.

“That sounds really nice actually. As soon as I get home I am going to give myself a much need facial and take a hot bath,” Lance could practically feel the tension melting away already. “But, after that you can do all the tests you need to, no problemo!”

“So, like, what can you do with your ice powers?” Hunk spoke up shyly, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“I, uh, actually don’t know. Just woke up with them today, and when I touched the wall of the room they kept me in, ice began spreading from beneath my hand.” Lance shrugged, still studying his palms. “Oh! I also froze Ezor in place, so she couldn’t zip around anymore. Nothing much beyond that though.” 

“Wait, you took away Ezor’s super-speed?” Pidge sat up excitedly once more.

“Temporarily yeah, I remembered particles move slowly when they’re cold, and I figured it’d affect her in kind of the same way. See, I paid attention in Chemistry!”

Pidge snorted. “Sure. One word for ya: Nyma.”

“She’s got a solid argument.” Hunk chimed in.

Lance groaned and rolled his eyes, sinking in defeat. “Why must you guys torture me!”

“It’s our job,” Pidge snickered.

“Should we tell Shiro and Allura the story?” Hunk smiled mischievously, and Lance sucked in a breath too quickly, causing him to splutter.

“As interesting as that sounds, I need to get Keith to bed.” Shiro jerked his thumb to the still-sleeping Keith. “And I’m sure Lance would appreciate a break as well, so he can tell his family that he’s alive.”

“Good idea, Shiro! No time for embarrassing stories!” Lance jumped to his feet, stretching out his arms. 

“Well, I’ve got time for a story.” Allura spoke up, a smirk on her face.

Lance deflated, pouting at her, making everyone laugh. Luckily, a night of searching for Keith had tired them all out, so they decided to save the story for another day and left together, Keith trudging half-asleep behind Shiro, who was guiding him with a hand on his shoulder.

Lance smiled at the sleep-hazy Keith, who struggled to keep his eyes open, hair mussed and fuzzy, and nose crinkling each time he stumbled over his or Shiro’s feet. But watching him made Lance realize just how tired he was. There was an ache in his back from sleeping on concrete, and his skin felt heavy and greasy. Lance scrunched his own nose as he thought about what he must look like.

Lance thanked Allura for the ride to his apartment building, and took a deep breath before stepping inside, ready to be bombarded with the same series of questions as before, but also ready for his mother’s tight embrace. He smiled and rushed up the stairs to that little apartment he’d never thought he’d miss so much.

 

A knock drew Lance’s attention to his window, and when he saw the spiderweb slung across its glass he couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. He set his book down, and quietly left the room, checking to make sure his parents were in bed before slipping out the front door, dashing towards the roof. He burst out onto the roof dramatically, eyes locking onto a red and blue clad hero.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows.

“We need to talk.” Keith’s voice sounded dull, and Lance felt uneasiness settle in his stomach.

“Sure, what’s up?” Lance hoped he sounded nonchalant as he sidled over to lean against the wall, Keith settling beside him.

“I’m sorry.” Keith cut to the point, the words running together in a long sigh. “I’m sorry for not telling you who I was. I’m sorry for getting you kidnapped and, consequently, experimented on. I’m sorry I didn’t save you sooner. All of this-“

“Keith.” Lance’s hand found itself under his chin, and he turned Keith’s head so their gazes met. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

“I don’t understand,” Keith’s frown deepened, and Lance watched has his eyebrows crinkled, the expression kind of comical with his mask on.

“I don’t care about any of that, Keith. You got me out, I’m fine, I’m standing right here in front of you! You don’t need to worry about me when you obviously need to start worrying about yourself. Pidge and Hunk told me all the stunts you pulled.”

Keith didn’t meet Lance’s eyes, focusing on his tapping foot. “I just feel like this was all my fault.”

“Well, it wasn’t. I’m the one who made the choice to follow Lotor, which got me kidnapped. You’re the one that got me back out and together we’re going to fix this whole mess!”

Keith groaned and slid down the wall, tugging off his mask in the process.

“I don’t know if we can fix this mess! Lotor is targeting the entire city! How am I going to save an entire city?”

Lance slid down beside him. “Hey, you’re the Amazing Spiderman, and they didn’t give you that nickname for nothing!” Keith was still staring at the ground, but Lance could see a little bit of light seep back into his eyes- Lance was still captivated by their color, so exotic- so he pushed further. “And you’re not doing this alone. You’ve got me, and Pidge and Hunk, and Allura and Shiro- so many people are here for you! Just because you’re the Amazing Spiderman, New York’s web-slinging hero, doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone.”

Lance reached a hand out to brush the hair away from Keith’s cheek, but Keith caught his hand. Lance held his breath as Keith pulled it closer, squinting at it and turning it over in his own hands.

“We’ll develop a way to cure you at Altea Inc.,” Keith finally spoke, and Lance let out his breath through his nose.

“You make it sound like I’m sick. Who says I want to be ‘healed’?” Lance smiled gently, as Keith turned wide eyes on him. 

“I’ve always wanted to be like you and help people, Keith, and now I have that opportunity! I’m going to make Lotor regret giving me these powers!” Lance continued before Keith could say anything.

“Lance, this is serious. I’m not going to let you go out in the field without any experience! What if you get hurt?”

Lance snorted. “Real original. Listen, Keith, I’m going to help you whether you like it or not! I held my own when we escaped Galra Co. and look who’s talking about getting hurt.” Lance poked Keith in the stomach, just above his stitches, but Keith didn’t even wince, just kept staring at Lance with a deadpanned expression.

“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, is there?”

“Nope.” Lance popped the ‘p’ and crossed his arms.

Keith sighed heavily, head falling back against the brick. “Promise me you aren’t going to put yourself in harms way when it’s unnecessary.”

“Yessir!” Lance saluted. “Wow, that was easier than I thought.”

“We’re not done, I’m just tired of talking and thinking about this whole mess in general.” Keith groaned, rubbing his eyes with a hand.

Lance shifted, wrapping a hand around the back of Keith’s neck, pulling him towards him.

“Then don’t.” And before Keith could retort, Lance’s lips were on his. 

He could feel Lance smiling into the kiss, but Keith pulled back, startled, mouth agape.

“Wha- you still- I thought-“ he stuttered, and Lance chuckled, fingers playing with the strands of hair at the back of his neck.

“Keith, I thought we discussed this already. Just because I only knew you as Spiderman doesn’t mean I’m going to look at you differently as Keith.” Lance rolled his eyes, a fond smile stretching as Keith continued to internally work out Lance’s words, and when realization dawned on his face, Lance swooped back in with a chuckle.

“Missed you,” Lance mumbled.

“Me, or this?” Keith chuckled, hands coming up to cup Lance’s face.

“Both. Now shut up!” Lance growled, swinging over to straddle Keith.

Keith chuckled, but obeyed, pulling Lance closer, relishing in his heat. They fell into a familiar rhythm, wandering hands and wandering lips, until they stopped to just enjoy each other’s company. Lance’s head was resting on Keith’s chest, listening to his heartbeat with a smile. Keith carded a hand through Lance’s hair, relishing the feel of Lance’s arms tight around him and his breathing against his chest. Keith smiled, closing his eyes and letting his chin fall onto Lance’s head, nose nuzzling into his hair. Lance was here, Lance was safe, and that’s all that mattered right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time to take down Lotor! Team Spiderman has a few of their own tricks up their sleeves though, so just wait!  
> So, the identity unveiling has finally happened! Too anti-climatic? Couldn't decide how exactly to make the reveal happen, but this felt right. Hope you guys liked it!


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho ho ho, I am back with another chapter! Told ya guys I wasn't going to abandon this, just took some time to get my crap together. We're actually pretty close to the end, which is bittersweet! In my head there's about 2 more chapters, so we'll see! Anyways, after months of waiting on me- thank you all for reading this, I logged on and saw this had over 1000 hits and it blew my mind! Over 1000 people have read what I've written?!- enjoy!

Everyone was busy at Altea Inc, as they have been for the past week. Pidge and Allura were studying the results from the tests they had done on Lance, trying to develop a cure. Hunk was building a device to contain the quintessent radiation, and Keith and Lance were beside him for support, since they had no idea what he was doing. Shiro arrived then, carrying all their take-out orders, and was swarmed as everyone grabbed for their food.

“Do we have a plan yet?” Shiro said, still chuckling from the ferocity everyone had grabbed their food with. “I think it would be good idea to involve the police in this too. If Lotor is trying to somehow destroy New York City, the police needs to be notified.”

“Agreed, we need all hands on deck,” Allura piped up.

Everyone else nodded vigorously, mouths too full to speak.

“So, what do we know so far?” Shiro sat down at the table, unwrapping his own burger.

“We know Lotor has been testing the effects a quintessent crystal has on people in his freaky lab,” Pidge spoke up.

“And that he wants to destroy everything his father has touched, specifically New York City,” Keith added.

“Go big or go home,” Lance smirked, then saw all the deadpanned expressions around the table. “Sorry.”

“So those two things must coincide somehow,” Hunk mused, and everyone fell into a thoughtful silence.

“In other news,” Allura spoke up, wiping her hands off on a napkin. “I decided to finally search that room Keith had been bitten and found an old file folder, hidden by years of dust and spiderwebs. In it, a document outlined an experiment that my father co-funded with…Zarkon.” Allura dropped her gaze, unable to meet the other’s eyes. “The experiment involved studying the changes a spider experiences when exposed to quintessence, the same material Lotor is using. They didn’t get the results they were looking for and I guess they never intended for any of the spiders to survive.” Her gaze raised to Keith. “I’m sorry, Keith. I can’t help but feel responsible for everything’s that happened to you.”

Keith waved his hand. “Allura, the only correlation you have to that experiment is your father. You’ve only helped me.” 

Allura smiled softly and nodded.

“So, uh, how are we going to stop Lotor?” Hunk tapped his hands together nervously.

“Together.” Shiro answered.

“Could you get anymore cliché?” Lance smirked.

“Shiro’s right, which is why I called in someone to help us,” Allura smiled, waving her hand and someone entered the room.

“Coran?!” Lance yelled, a wide smile on his face.

“My boy, I’m glad to see you’re safe! When Allura called and told me the news I danced this jig that I learned-“ Allura cleared her throat. “Anyways, she asked for my assistance and of course, I couldn’t say no. What’s the stakes?”

“New York City,” Keith replied seriously, arms crossed.

Coran’s eyes widened, then narrowed in determination. “I see.”

Pidge suddenly snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it! I know what Lotor’s planning.” Everyone looked at her expectantly, and she adjusted her glasses with a smug look. “It’s always been about the crystal. Lotor must have developed a way to boost the crystal’s power to reach everyone in New York City.”

“That…makes sense,” Hunk said after a beat of silence.

“So, all we need to do is shut down the crystal?”

“I can’t be sure until I know all the specifics, which can only be retrieved at Lotor’s lab.” Pidge fiddled with her glasses again, fingers typing rigorously on her computer.

“Then we have our plan,” Keith said. “Break into Lotor’s lab and get Pidge, Hunk, and Allura near the crystal so they can shut it down.”

“It won’t be that easy Keith,” Shiro shook his head, arms crossed. He looked tired, everyone did.

“I know that. But we have enough people to handle Lotor’s gang, we’re stronger than they are.”

“Keith’s right,” Lance spoke up. “They know how to work together, but they don’t have the relationship we have. It’ll be easy to overpower them if we can separate them.”

“It’s not like we have much time anyway,” Allura spoke up. “We need to act fast.”

“You’re right, I just don’t like rushing head first into things without all the information,” Shiro rubbed his eyes. “Okay, I’ll get the police force together and clear the area around the building, so go wild.” Shiro smiled, eyes hard with determination. “And be careful,” he gave Keith a pointed look, who rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards.

Shiro gave a final eave and left to rally the police force, already on the phone with the chief, explaining the situation as best he could.

“Okay, so Lance and I will enter first to clear the path for you guys,” Keith started speaking.

“Yeah, no need to put the civilians in danger,” Lance added.

“Coran and I aren’t normal civilians,” Allura interrupted. “We can help.”

Everyone’s eyes bugged out as Allura grew taller and turned purple, as did Coran, his orange hair looking comical against the lilac hue. Allura chuckled at their expressions.

“Are you an alien?” Hunk asked plainly.

“No, just an unexpected side effect of an experiment, but that’s for later.”

“And Coran?”

“I was a good friend of her father and volunteered my services,” he smiled wistfully, but went no further.

“We have above average strength in this form, and both of us know enough martial arts to hold our own against Lotor’s goons,” Allura smiled, pulling her hair up into a bun.

“And I thought you couldn’t get any cooler,” Pidge said simply, cause laughter to fill the room.

“Alright team, let’s go save New York City.”

 

By the time they reached Galra Co., night had fallen; it was eerily quiet, the only light in the building coming from the company’s sign, glowing a menacing purple. Shiro had kept the police force away so as not to alert Lotor to their plan, so they were on their own.

“Let’s end this.” Lance whispered, and the team nodded, fist bumping.

Keith pulled his mask on, and lead the way, Lance flanking him while Allura and Coran brought up the rear, black cloths covering the lower half of Allura's face, while Coran had went all out with his 'superhero costume' as he called it- a red cape and big sunglasses and thigh high boots (flashy, but it got the job done)- in case they were recognized. That would make an interesting news report, Lance chuckled.

They shuffled silently down the hallway all too familiar to Lance, everyone’s head swiveling, senses working overtime as they searched for any sign of an attack. But despite the nervous and uptight atmosphere, Lance felt giddy. He was finally helping the city, doing something significant, and that sent a thrill through him.

They reached the lab door without any problems, Pidge making quick work of the coded door. Keith felt uneasy, body tense as they approached the lab. This was too easy, something was up; Lotor isn’t stupid, and he certainly wouldn’t let them get this close to the crystal unless he had everything under control. Lance began to twist the knob of the door that lead into the lab.

“Wait, something’s wrong,” Keith spoke up. “Doesn’t this all seem too easy?”

“I was thinking the same thing, but it’s best to just rip off the band-aid and see what Lotor is planning instead of hiding in the shadow.” Allura answered, voice slight muffled by the fabric over her mouth.

Keith sighed, knowing Allura was right, but he didn’t like it when his friends were in danger. He nodded at Lance to continue. They all slipped inside the lab, blinking in the darkness.

“Oookaaay,” Lance whispered. 

Then suddenly the lights flicked on, the machines powering up, and at the center of the room stood the four women who worked with Lotor. The crystal was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is it?” He stepped forward, hands gripping the railing as he looked down on the four women. None of them said anything.

Pidge came up beside him, scanning the room, or more specifically, the equipment. She adjusted her glasses. “Looks like the crystal is still hooked up to those computers, so not all is lost. They must have moved the crystal to the optimal location to maximize their radius the radiation can reach, “ she whispered.

“Which is…,” Keith thought, but Pidge shook her head.

“Our best bet is to focus on shutting it down from here.”

“Alright, we’ll distract them, you and Hunk get to the computers.” Keith turned around and nodded at his team, then lead the way down the stairs, stopping in front of Lotor’s goons. 

They wasted no time, clashing with each other, evenly matched in number and skill. Pidge ad Hunk skirted around the action, reaching the computers. After a quick once over, they got the gist of how the equipment worked. Both cracked their fingers and got to work.

Lance was facing Narti, smirking with satisfaction at how Ezor kept shooting him dirty looks while maintaining her distance. He dodged Narti’s knives, a bit clumsily but he was proud he could hold his own. He grabbed her wrist, the ice climbing up her arm. She went to hit him with her other arm, but he saw it coming, freezing it as well, eventually encasing her whole upper body. He brushed off his hands and turned to see Allura tying up Ezor with a whip, binding her legs so she couldn’t run circles around her. He noticed her black cloth had fallen around her neck, and her hair was in slight disarray, but she was smiling proudly. Coran was holding his own against Zethrid, calmly stepping out of the way of her swings, and whatever he was saying was further enraging her. 

After securing Ezor, Allura went to assist him, so Lance turned to find Keith, who was leaping in the rafter while Acxa shot at him with a hand gun, face displaying her annoyance. She was so focused on Keith, that she didn’t notice Lance approaching her, or so he thought. She spun around and shot at Lance, who quickly dove out of the way- thank god for his cat-like reflexes. But that distraction gave Keith the chance to swing down and kick Acxa against the wall, webbing her to it. She growled in frustration, trying to pull free, but of course, to no avail.

Keith helped Lance to his feet, slapping his back in a gesture of ‘thanks’ and ‘never to that again.’ Lance chuckled.

“I told you I got your back.”

Keith walked over to help Allura and Coran restrain Zethrid, wrapping her in webs almost to the point of being excessive, but if anyone here was going to labeled as excessive it was the guy trying to destroy the entirety of New York City- Lotor. Speaking of Lotor, where was he. 

“Glad you decided to join us.”

Ah, there he was, the sneaky bastard.

Lance was yanked backward by a firm hand on his arm, and he inwardly cursed. He felt the press of a barrel to his neck and immediately stopped squirming. He had to get his thoughts together, panicking would do him no good.

“Move and it will be the last thing you do,” Lotor whispered in Lance’s ear, making him shiver.

“Let him go, Lotor, your scheme is over,” Keith growled, looking poised to lunge.

“I think otherwise,” Lotor smirked. “You think you know everything to my plan? Well, you’re about to find out how wrong you are.”

The sound of a gun shot made everyone flinch and Keith lunged, calling out for Lance. Lance stumbled forward when Lotor pushed him away, ears ringing from the shot. He collapsed on the ground, unable to move his limbs in his confusion. When he glanced back, Lotor had disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun. Cliff hanger. Don't worry, the wait won't be as long ;)  
> If there's anything you want to see more of before the end of the story let me know! And if anything is confusing tell me so I can resolve it before the end!  
> Thanks again to all who have followed this story!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say sorry for the past cliffhanger, but you probably wouldn't believe me. Alas, the story is coming to an end, so I wanna say thank you to everyone who read this story! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Epilogue will be next, though.

Keith was at Lance’s side immediately, checking over him for a wound, but there wasn’t one. Lance groaned and sat up, rubbing his ears in irritation. Keith heaved a sigh of relief; his heart had been in his throat at the thought of Lance being hurt because of him…again. Lance blinked, then patted himself down, smiling widely when he realized the same thing Keith had. It had only been a distraction for Lotor to escape without a fight.

“We need to catch him before he can do anything else,” Keith growled, searching the room for Lotor’s exit point. There, a rather large vent in the wall. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Lance said, standing up and brushing himself off.

“I’m going alone,” Keith stated, crossing his arms and looking at Lance with a challenge in his eyes.

Of course, Lance wasn’t going to back down. “That intimidating hero pose doesn’t affect me,” Lance said sternly, matching the pose. “Look, like Shiro said earlier, we’ll take Lotor down together. You don’t have to do this on your own anymore. We are here to carry some of that weight.” Lance motioned to the teammates behind him, who all nodded and gave encouraging smiles- except for Pidge, she was too focused on the screen before her.

Keith sighed, but couldn’t help but smile. “You’re very persistent, you know that?”

“I’m a reporter, I have to be,” Lance smiled proudly, holding himself a little higher.

“Aha!” Pidge exclaimed suddenly, and everyone turned their attention to her. Hunk was smiling excitedly at the screen, and the two spun around, ending in a high five.

“Team Punk does it again!” They yelled, the high-five echoing through the room.

“Uh, what exactly did you guys do?” Lance called, voice filled with amusement.

“We know how to shut the crystal down!” Hunk replied.

“We just need a little more time,” Pidge added, returning to her furious typing. “I know a virus that should shut it down easily, but it’s rather lengthy.”

Keith nodded. “We can make time. Coran, Allura, stay here and make sure Pidge and Hunk are not interrupted.” Keith pointedly looks at Lotor’s team, still tied up. They glare back at him. “Lance and I are going to go stall Lotor.”

Allura and Coran nodded, wishing them luck and safety, then Keith and Lance disappeared in the vent Lotor had crawled into. They had to bend in half to fit inside, but it could be worse. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Lance said, voice echoing.

“There isn’t one, just don’t die,” Keith said simply.

“Right, I like that,” Lance chuckled, then cursed when he smacked his head on the top of the vent. “We almost there? My back is aching, and I think my knees are going to give out any second!”

Keith chuckled. “Quite the hero. And yes, I can see the end.” 

Lance kicked open the vent, its face clattering on the ground, and Keith shook his head. Lance just shrugged. “He knows we’re here, so no use being stealthy anymore.”

They dropped down into a staircase, the staircase that led up to the roof. Keith went first, opening the door slowly and peering out, scanning the rooftop for Lotor. His spidey-sense didn’t alert him to any danger, so he stepped out, telling Lance to stay back for now, and while Lance grumbled, he stayed put. 

Lance’s gaze never left Keith as he cautiously walked around the roof looking for any sign of Lotor. Then Keith froze in place, and Lance stiffened, all but running to his side when Keith waved him over.

“Found the crystal,” Keith pointed, and Lance followed his finger to see the crystal hooked up to the satellite dish on the roof.

“Okay, so what do we do?” Lance asked.

“Well, Pidge said she had to shut it down from the basement, but I don’t think it’ll hurt if we disconnect those wires connecting the crystal to that satellite dish.”

“I’ll freeze them,” Lance said, stepping forward to do so, but then he was tackled to the ground by Keith, who quickly rolled off him to face whatever threat he saw. Lance could probably take a guess as to who that would be.

“I can’t let you do that.” Lotor’s voice rang out, and Lance turned to see him standing there wielding some kind of sword. He twirled it then rushed at them.

Keith took the lead, pushing Lance back, motioning for him to continue to the crystal. Lance knew it was the best idea, but he still didn’t like Keith facing this guy alone. Keith ducked under the Lotor’s first swing, spinning around and shooting a web at him, but Lotor only spun just as quickly and cut the web before it could reach him. They parried, neither gaining the advantage, but then again, that was the point. Keith just had to stall Lotor long enough for Pidge to disable the crystal. 

Lotor managed to slice Keith’s arm, but no serious damage was delivered, if anything it only angered Keith more. Keith webbed the wound and moved on. Lotor produced a couple dagger and threw them at Keith, who dogged each of them- which he was proud of- but when he turned back towards Lotor he saw he was running at Lance, who had his back turned while he worked on the wires, oblivious to anything else. 

“Lance, behind you!” Keith yelled as loud as he could.

Lance turned around and procured two icicles in time to stop Lotor’s blade. He held his own, and stared determinedly into Lotor’s eyes, showing him he would not be easily defeated. Keith dashed across the roof, pulling Lotor back with a web to his back. He put himself between Lance and Lotor, who was watching them calmly.

“Looks like you’re too late,” he said with a smug smile as a loud whirring filled the air. 

Keith and Lance turned to see the crystal glowing, and when Lance lunged for the wires, hoping to disconnect them, he jumped back with a yelp, a sharp energy like electricity running through him. Keith moved to help him, but then his senses screamed at him and he rolled to the side, Lotor’s sword only making a shallow cut up his side. He growled. Why couldn’t this guy just quit already!

He grabbed Lotor’s wrist and swung him around, kneeing him in the stomach and then twisting the wrist holding the sword, forcing him to drop it, before throwing him on the ground. Lotor rebounded, laughing coldly as he wiped some blood from his nose. Keith stared at him, awaiting his next move. Then Keith noticed he still had his utility belt on, and an idea sprung in his head. He webbed Lotor’s hands to the ground, then spun around to face Lance.

“Lance, I need you to go check on Pidge and Hunk’s progress. I can handle things from here.” He tried to put as much urgency in his voice as possible, even gripping Lance’s shoulders to convey it further.

Lance looked at him skeptically, then nodded curtly. “Okay, but I’m coming right back afterwards.”

“Of course.” Keith said, his relief all too apparent. 

Lance moved for the door, but Keith grabbed his arm before he could go farther.

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Keith said, and Lance looked at him curiously. “For everything you’ve done for me.”

“You’re the hero,” Lance snorted.

“Just because I wear a mask? No, a real hero gives everything up to save others.”

“I’d agree, but-“

“Goodbye, Lance.” Keith cut him off, turning back to stare at Lotor.

“But I’ll see you in ten minutes, right? Right, Keith?” Lance said sternly, and Keith was glad he had a mask to hide his face.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course, I do!”

“Then go see how Pidge and Hunk are doing.”

He felt Lance hesitate a moment longer, then heard the door click shut. Keith turned his full attention back to Lotor, who was looking at him curiously.

“What are you doing?” He looked at Keith suspiciously.

“What I have to.” Keith crouched beside Lotor and plucked one of the spheres from the belt. Lotor’s eyes widened, then narrowed.

“You don’t know how powerful those things are!” 

“I know they’re powerful enough to destroy the crystal.”

“We’ll never make it out alive!” 

“New York City won’t make it out alive if I don’t,” Keith retorted, walking towards the glowing crystal.

Lotor continued to call after him, trying to make him change his mind, but Keith had already made his peace, he knew what he had to do despite the cost. He planted the bomb onto the crystal and activated it, it’s timer beginning to countdown from a minute.

 

Lance ran down the stairs two at a time, wanting to get back to Keith as soon as possible. He didn’t like the sound of what he had said; it sounded too much like a permanent goodbye. Lance was going to smack him if he got himself killed, and he knows everyone else will as well. 

When he raced into the room, he saw not much had changed. Lotor’s goons were still tied up and Pidge and Hunk were still occupied at the computer. Lance raced up beside Allura and Coran, watching the series of numbers fly by on the screen.

“The crystal’s been activated, and we’re not sure how to shut it down. It’s all up to you guys now. We’ve got Lotor incapacitated; Keith’s watching him,” Lance explained. 

“They’ve almost got it cracked!” Coran said. “Just a few more minutes.” Though that sounded more like encouragement for Hunk and Pidge.

Suddenly, the building was wracked by a tremor, the hanging lights shaking and flickering, and everyone was thrown off balance.

“What was that?” Allura said, clutching a railing to keep herself upright.

“I don’t know, but the crystal is no longer online!” Pidge said, looking in disbelief at the computer screen. “If I’m reading this correctly, the crystal no longer exists.”

“What? How-“ Allura said, straightening.

“That’s great news, isn’t it?” Coran said slowly.

“Why do I get the feeling it’s not?” Hunk spoke up.

“Well, if the crystal was on the roof-“ Pidge began, but Lance didn’t hear the rest of it.

“Keith!” He yelled and raced out of the room, thankful there was an elevator and quickly jumped in, not caring about its structural integrity after the tremor. 

It couldn’t move fast enough, and the moment the doors pinged open Lance rushed out, running up the last couple of stairs to the roof, flinging the door open.

“Keith!” He shouted, scanning the roof frantically.

He saw the crystal in pieces, the wires hanging limply, but there was no sign of Keith, or Lotor, but Lance could care less about that guy. He raced around the roof, checking every place they could be, but was coming up empty, his heart beating harder with each step he took. Where was Keith? What did that selfless idiot get himself into this time?

“Worried about me?” 

Lance whirled around at the familiar voice, almost melting with relief when he saw Keith hanging upside down, web attached to the corner of the shed-like structure that houses the door. He looked a little worse for wear, but alive. An unconscious Lotor was below him, leaning against the wall, wrapped in a copious amount of webbing. Lance rushed at him, wrapping him in a tight hug as much as he could.

“I am never letting you go again, you reckless bastard!” Lance whispered, though it held no heat. 

Keith chuckled, “Sure thing.”

“Keith, this is serious! You almost blew yourself up,” Lance frowned up at him.

Keith pulled his mask off and gave Lance a soft smile. “Don’t worry, Pidge made my suit shock proof to deal with heavy punches, and my webs shielded me enough that the blast wasn’t fatal.”

“Okay, babe, we’ll argue about this later when you’re not screaming in my ears,” Lance shook his head, but was smiling.

“I think it effected my hearing, though!” Keith yelled back, sticking a finger in his ear as if that would fix his situation.

“Unbelievable,” Lance laughed, then pulled Keith down for a kiss. Sure, it was awkward with Keith being upside down, but Lance didn’t care about that, all he cared about was that Keith was here, alive and kissing him. He pulled away.

“Come on, hero, the others are probably drowning in worry right now. Get ready for an earful.”

Keith flipped onto the ground and waved away Lance’s comment. “I’m used to it. But first, what do we do with him.”

Lance turned to where Keith was pointing, seeing Lotor slowly coming too. Lance growled.

“Right. We’ll call Shiro and let him handle the rest. I don’t think I should go near him right now for everything he’s put you through.” Lance glared at the man who caused all of this. 

Keith smirked at him. “My hero.”

Lance beamed then pulled him in for a kiss. It was short, and then Lance was glaring at Keith once more, poking his chest hard. “Seriously, though, don’t do that again!”

Keith raised his hands in surrender. “You’ve convinced me. Must be those reporter skills.”

“Damn right.” Lance smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This action sequence was hard to write for some reason. Anyways, hope you guys liked it, not sure how I feel about it (but that's how it usually is in the writing process), but i think I've given you enough suspense. Thanks again for reading! One last chapter to go! Which, by the way, do you want it to be focused on fluff, or some more every day hero action and reporter Lance? Or both?


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys! Enjoy!

CORAN’S CHRONICLES

THE DAILY _by: Lance McClain_

_The recent happenings at Galra Co. has brought up a slew of questions, ones that may never be answered. But if anything has been proven in this altercation, it’s that The Amazing Spiderman always has New York City’s back. He was the one who stopped Lotor Galra’s plan, which I happened to stumble across and get wrapped up in myself, and he didn’t think twice about getting me to safety despite his own injury at the time. I know there are conflicted responses to this Spiderman throughout the city, and this isn’t me trying to persuade you one way or the other, this is me stating the facts. Spiderman saved my life, on numerous occasions- that’s on me, sorry, Spidey- and he saved New York City. His lone purpose is to protect each and every one of you to the best of his abilities, and let me tell you, his abilities are incredible, but they certainly don’t overshadow his heart, or the need to protect, or the duty he feels towards this city._

_And he doesn’t do this alone. He can’t possibly do it alone, and yet he still tries. But he’s told me that not everyone has to have superpowers to be a hero, you don’t need powers to make a difference. Sometimes it’s as easy as complimenting a coworker to make their day, and sometimes it takes a lot of work, like volunteering at a homeless shelter, but every time you take the initiative to improve another’s well being, you are being a hero. And that’s what Spiderman wants everyone to know. So, how are you going to be a hero today?_

Lance sat back in his chair, smiling at his words, and recalling when Keith had told him about how he can be a hero without special powers. Lance had been debating whether or not to allow Allura to give him a shot that would make his ice powers dormant. He was hesitant because this was his chance to be at Keith’s side making a difference, something he had longed for since he met Spiderman behind that car while being shot at with lightning, but then Keith reminded him of the dangers of being a hero as well, not only would he be a constant target, but so would those he cared about, including his family. And he would never put his family at risk like that, nor did he like the idea of keeping a secret as big as an alter ego from them, so Lance consented to the monthly shots, of course, disappointed at not being able to help Keith, but then Keith had told him he already helps enough in his own way, that not everyone need special abilities to make a difference and got all sappy on him that Lance _had_ to kiss him after that.

Lance smiled at the memory, pulling out his notepad and flipping to the page he had started a list about Spiderman on, reading over the things he wrote with a chuckle. Yep, still a great kisser. Lance took the pencil from behind his ear and wrote a new line on the list: _my boyfriend_. That always brought a smile to his face, the fact that Keith was his boyfriend. Not because of his alter ego, but because Lance couldn’t believe a selfless guy like Keith would take the time to get to know a guy like himself. And they had their first official date tonight!

Lance checked his watch, time to clock out and go get ready for tonight. Keith had taken it upon himself to plan their night out, not giving Lance any details except to wear casual chic clothes. So, Lance said goodbye to Coran, who responded in his usual cheery tone, and ran the whole way home with a smile on his face. He had an hour to get ready before Keith picked him up. Lance had already picked his outfit, so it would take him no time to make himself presentable. He sent a quick text to Keith before getting ready.

Lance: [Excited for tonight :) <3]

Keith’s phone buzzed, and he grabbed it from the countertop, smiling at Lance’s message, but it also served to remind him how soon he had to leave to go pick up Lance. He was still trying to figure out an outfit to wear, everything he put on seemed either too casual or too dressy, so he had passed the baton to Shiro, who was currently buried in his closet for the right outfit. So, Keith entered the bathroom and began fiddling with his hair, which didn’t seem to lay right no matter which way he brushed it and whatnot, so he threw it back in a ponytail, satisfied with the result. He was sure Lance would like it and will probably tug on it as soon as he sees it.

Finally, Shiro called Keith in, looking proudly at the outfit he had laid out on Keith’s bed. Keith nodded his approval, the outfit looking none too different from what he would normally wear, but instead of the hoodie he usually threw on minutes before rushing out the door, it was a marron button up paired with his (non-ripped) black jeans. Shiro left Keith in peace to get dressed, flicking the ponytail on the way out with a smile.

Five minutes before he had to leave, Keith was pacing around the apartment trying to dispel his nervous energy. Shiro was standing with an elbow on the kitchen bar watching him, chin settled on a hand and a soft smile on his face as his eyes followed Keith back and forth.

“Keith, don’t worry about anything except being yourself tonight,” he said and Keith paused to stare at him with wide eyes, drinking in everything he was saying. “And no flowers tonight, you’re taking your motorcycle, so they would be destroyed before you even gave them to Lance. All he cares about is spending time with you.”

Keith took a deep breath, then nodded to himself, and grabbed his key. He yelled his thanks to Shiro as he raced out the door, a smile on his face. Shiro only yelled back about driving carefully, shaking his head before turning to go get ready for work.

 

Lance was waiting for him when Keith pulled up, but didn’t immediately see him, too engrossed in his phone to pay attention to his surroundings, so Keith took this moment to study Lance. He loved the small smile that would pull at his lips when he read something amusing on his phone, or the way his eyebrows were constantly moving as he looked at the screen; it was all so mundane, but it was also so Lance. Keith smiled when he noticed Lance had done his hair, gelling it back in a sleek wave. It looked nice, and he was kind of sorry he was going to mess it up by making Lance wear a helmet, but he had to admit he was also curious to see Lance unkempt.

Finally, Lance’s eyes glanced up, then down, then back up again, flashing with surprise when he realized Keith had arrived, and the smile he shot Keith was blinding, and Keith remembered his favorite thing about Lance, that smile that burned like a thousand suns and made anyone feel warm inside. Lance trotted over to Keith, scolding him for not telling him he had arrived, but Keith couldn’t feel sorry. He handed Lance his spare helmet, watching as a momentary grimace pulled at Lance’s lips, but then he slipped the helmet on as delicately as he could, as if he could save the efforts on his hair. Keith wasn’t going to tell him otherwise.

Then Lance hopped on behind Keith, wrapping his arms around his waist without hesitation, like this was how it was supposed to always be. This was how Keith wanted it to always be, Lance holding onto him tight, bodies pressed close, and their heartbeats synced. It was intoxicating, and it was what felt natural.

Keith revved the engine and took off into the streets, weaving between cars and trucks with a smile on his face. And he was sure Lance was smiling as well, he could practically feel it on the back of his neck, which only made him smile harder. Tonight, he was going to take Lance out of the city to stargaze, something one was unable to do in the heart of the city; however, they couldn’t travel very far from the city because of Keith’s night job, but they would be far enough to see at least a few stars.

They followed the road out of the city, watching as the dense buildings melted away into trees. They wound up a hill, the night air growing chilly, so Lance hugged Keith closer, still unsure about their destination, but he didn’t need an explanation when Keith pulled into an overlook. They could see most of New York City, but was also just far enough to see some stars twinkling in the night sky. Lance hopped off, mouth open in awe, and he immediately began pointing out what constellations were visible, most notably the big and little dipper. He grabbed Keith’s hand, pulling him off the bike and excitedly rambling about space and its wonder. Keith listened with a smile, watching Lance instead of the sky, because New York City may not have stars in the sky, but he didn’t need to see them when he had Lance at his side.

However, an hour later they were interrupted by the sight of a large plume of smoke and a sound that resembled thunder, followed by the flash of an explosion. Both Lance and Keith watched as a streak of fire shot into the sky, circling building. They locked eyes, both thinking the same thing. Just another day in the life of Spiderman.

Keith sighed, but tore open his shirt, revealing his costume on underneath- why? Does Keith need a reason to wear it? Then he raced back to his bike, Lance climbing on without question, and they sped back to the city.

One would think Lance would be disappointed, but his smile never wavered as he hugged Keith. He had known what he was getting into when he decided to date Keith, Keith had made sure of that as well, and he was okay with it, he didn’t want to hold Keith back, only to support him. He trusted Keith, and knew that Keith really liked him, or else he wouldn’t have even attempted a relationship. So, Lance enjoyed every moment they spent together, and saw Keith off with a smile when a crisis arose.

Before they reached the destruction, Keith dropped Lance off in an alley near his apartment building, where he was going to stash his bike, and started apologizing profusely, but Lance kissed hm quiet. When he pulled away, he saw the determined expression Keith had adopted, his eyes alight and cheek flushed with adrenaline and smiled.

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” he whispered, making Keith smile.

“I owe you one,” Keith said in a rush, pecking Lance’s lips again before pulling his mask on.

“Yeah, you do!” Lance smirked, shoving him towards the mouth of the alley.

And as Lance watched as Keith race out of the alley without hesitation, shooting into the sky with a salute, he was struck with a feeling of pride at the bravery Keith showed by putting his life on the line every night for this city, for its people, for Lance. And it was then that Lance decided he will be the one Keith can always come back to, he will be his rock, the constant in Keith’s life full of crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is my first fic I finished, and it feels good! Hope the ending lived up to your expectations, and I just wanna say thank you to all who read this through, and those who left comments and kudos, I appreciate everyone here right now!   
> Want more? I've got plenty of other fics for you to check out 'cause my brain just won't quit!


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